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GJHSRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE STORY OF OUR 
CONSTITUTION 



BOOKS BY 
EVA MARCH TAPPAN 



Dr. Tappan's historical works have already become classics for the 
young, with their entertaining descriptions, perfect English, and his- 
torical value. Such hooks are the best that can be placed in the hands 
of children; and the fact that while being instructive, there is never a 
dull line, is the highest commendation that can be offered. 

— Baltimore American. 



MAKERS OF ENGLAND SERIES 

12mo Cloth Illustrated from Famous Paintings 

IN THE DAYS OF ALFRED THE GREAT 

IN THE DAYS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 

IN THE DAYS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 

IN THE DAYS OF QUEEN VICTORIA 



THE STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

Cloth 12mo Illustrated 

Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston 




Independence Hall, Philadelphia. 



THE STORY OF OUR 
CONSTITUTION 

By 
EVA MARCH TAPPAN 

ILLUSTRATED 



" The American Constitution is the most wonderful 
work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and 
purpose of man." — Gladstone. 




BOSTON 
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 






Copyright, 1922, 
By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co, 



All Rights Reserved 



The Story of Our Constitution 



Printed in XJ. S. A. 



Wo rwsv<s>&* press 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 
Norwood, Mass. 



SEP -7 - m 



.CU683123 



PREFACE 

It is a thrilling story, the tale of four 
million people deliberately choosing a 
form of government for themselves and 
promising to live in obedience to its laws. 
It is a story of dreaming of union, but 
dreading to be bound; of dreaming of 
separation, but fearing to be free; a story 
of peering into the future like the seers of 
old, and of balancing sordid advantages 
and disadvantages like the most penurious 
of misers. And what of that noble group 
of men, unconsciously great, who without 
a thought of their own gain moved quietly 
about the task of saving a nation from 
lawlessness and anarchy? Why is it that 
histories which are elsewhere interesting 
become so often dry and dull when the 
wonder-story is touched upon? 

It is from such thoughts as these that 

this book has grown. 

Eva March Tappan. 
5 



CONTENTS 



I. 


The Days of Weakness and 
Confusion 


11 


II. 


Keeping the Union Together . 


23 


III. 


The Coming of the Delegates . 


36 


IV. 


A New Constitution . 


59 


V. 


The Constitution is Completed 


77 


VI. 


Will the States Eatify 1 . 


92 


VII. 


Coming " Under the Eoof " 


111 


VIII. 


The Beginning of the Govern- 
ment 


125 


IX. 


The States Guard Their Eights 


139 


X. 


Electing the President . 


149 


XI. 


The War Amendments 


155 


XII. 


The Twentieth Century Amend- 
ments 


160 




The Constitution of the United 
States of America . 


169 




Index ...... 


191 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Independence Hall . . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Washington Laying his Commission at the 

Feet of Columbia .... 38 

James Madison 52 

Interior of Independence Hall ... 58 

Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, 

1787 . ...... . . .76 

Parade in New York Celebrating the Eatifi- 

cation of the Constitution . . . 128 

Inauguration of Washington . . . 138 

Abraham Lincoln * • • . 156 



9 



THE STORY OF OUR 
CONSTITUTION 

CHAPTER I 

THE DAYS OF WEAKNESS AND CONFUSION 

There was once a family of boys who 
were somewhat inclined to quarrel. One 
day the father called them together and 
handed the youngest a bundle of short 
sticks. " See if you can break that," he 
said. The boy tried, but he could not 
even crack them. Then the next boy 
tried, and the next, and finally the oldest 
of the four, but the bundle was tied closely 
together and remained as firm as ever. 
While the boys stood wondering what 
their father was trying to do, he untied the 
string and gave each boy a stick. Even 
the youngest could break One, and the fa- 
ther said, " You boys are like the sticks. 
11 



12 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

If you quarrel and each one stands alone., 
you are weak; but if you are good friends 
and stand together, no one can ever harm 

you." 

It is a pity that the Americans could 
not have read this old fable every morning 
of the first years following the Revolu- 
tionary War. They had had a severe 
struggle, and they had won the victory. 
Naturally, they were somewhat puffed up 
and just a bit proud of themselves. No 
one should step on their toes, whether he 
were George III or a man from a neigh- 
boring State. 

They had opinions of their own, and 
every man was prodigiously sure that his 
were correct. Some of these opinions, 
whether correct or not, were certainly re- 
markable. One sturdy Vermonter fled to 
the newspapers with a wrathful declara- 
tion that nothing but luxuries ought to be 
taxed, that lawsuits were luxuries and 
served chiefly for the entertainment of 
idle, quarrelsome people, and therefore 



WEAKNESS AND CONFUSION 13 

lawsuits ought to be taxed. Another went 
even farther, for he was much aggrieved 
that any of the tax money should go to the 
support of the courts. " I never had a 
case in court," he declared virtuously, 
" and why should I be taxed to help pay 
the costs of settling other people's quar- 
rels?" 

About the Society of the Cincinnati 
there was a real tempest in a teapot. This 
society was formed of the surviving officers 
of the Revolution. It was merely an 
association of friends who agreed to help 
one another if any need for help should 
arise. At the death of each member, his 
oldest male descendant was to have the 
right to take his place. There does not 
seem to be anything especially alarming 
in this, but in the eyes of many worthy 
Americans of the day, it was fraught with 
awful danger to the democracy of the 
country. Hereditary honors and a " he- 
reditary nobility " were bad enough, but 
much worse was the fact that foreign of- 



14 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ficers who had fought in the war were ac- 
tually allowed to become members; and 
from this there was no knowing what evils 
might arise. Even the fact that Wash- 
ington was president of the Cincinnati did 
not soothe the fears of the apprehensive 
people. 

Another alarm arose at the demand of 
Congress for a standing army, although it 
does not seem as if its proposed size need 
have startled any one. According to the 
treaty of peace with England, the confis- 
cated property of the Tories, or those who 
had been on the English side during the 
war, was to be returned to them and all 
private debts were to be paid. Congress 
asked the different States to do this, but 
they paid no heed to the request. En- 
gland refused to give up the western forts 
till it was done, and a motion was intro- 
duced in Congress to requisition some nine 
hundred men as a defense in case of neces- 
sity. The people were angry and alarmed. 
What right had Congress, they demanded, 



WEAKNESS AND CONFUSION 15 

to require an army to be furnished by the 
States in time of peace? There was no 
knowing where this might end. If Con- 
gress once had armed troops at its com- 
mand, who could foresee what it might do? 
This storm was at length quieted by the 
change of a single word; Congress no 
longer " requisitioned," it " recom- 
mended," and quiet was restored. 

So it was that everything that Congress 
did or proposed to do was watched, not 
only by the people as individuals, but as 
States. Every State was jealous of every 
other State. New York on the one side 
and New Jersey and Connecticut on the 
other, almost came to blows. New Jersey 
served New York as a great truck farm. 
Whenever market day came around, fleets 
of boats weighed down with fruit, vege- 
tables, fowls, cheese, and butter, sailed 
from New Jersey to the wharves of New 
York ; and from Connecticut came almost 
as many piled up with great loads of fire- 
wood. 



16 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

New York began to take heed of the 
amount of money that was going from the 
pockets of her citizens into those of her 
thrifty neighbors. It was highly im- 
proper, she thought, for so many good 
pounds and shillings to be carried off to 
rival States. That she was getting a fair 
return for her money did not affect the 
matter; and her assembly passed a decree 
that all boats over twelve tons must be 
entered and cleared at the custom house; 
that is, they must pay their neighboring 
State as large dues for selling to her citi- 
zens as if the vessels had been foreign 
craft. 

The Jersey folk meditated on how to 
strike back. They could raise the price of 
wood and vegetables, of course, but the 
probabilities were that the New Yorkers 
would then refuse to purchase. There 
was one way, however, in which New Jer- 
sey could get her revenge. New York, it 
seemed, needed a lighthouse on Sandy 
Hook, and some time before this had 



WEAKNESS AND CONFUSION 17 

bought of its New Jersey owner four 
acres of ground and had put up a light- 
house. Nothing was simpler than for the 
New Jersey assembly to increase the taxes 

on that four acres; and New York was 

« 

promptly notified that her annual tax 
would be $1,800, a sum worth far more 
than it is now. As for Connecticut, a 
league of business men agreed not to sell 
one article to New York for a year. 

Each State was looking out for itself. 
Kentucky and Tennessee, for instance, 
wished to trade with New Orleans; but 
Spain held the land about the lower Mis- 
sissippi, and she refused to allow Ameri- 
can vessels to use that part of the river. 
New England wished to have a commer- 
cial treaty with Spain, and Spain replied, 
" Very well, I will agree to such a treaty, 
provided all American vessels are forbid- 
den to enter the lower Mississippi." Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee and the Southern 
States were indignant at being shut off 
from the mouth of the river; New En- 



18 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

gland was indignant at the " obstinacy 
and selfishness" of the South. Both 
groups of States threatened to leave the 
Union. " What I buy and sell and how 
I buy and sell it is my own business," was 
the claim of each and every State. 

So it was that the different States con- 
tended at home, and when the question 
arose of sending goods to Europe, there 
was even more trouble. Most of the im- 
ported articles that were wanted in Amer- 
ica came from England. England was 
ready to sell, but she would not buy any 
American goods in return unless they had 
been brought in English vessels. Of 
course any State that chose could refuse 
to receive goods that were not brought in 
American vessels; but that would not 
trouble England in the least, for some 
neighboring State was always ready to ac- 
cept the goods. In the same way, a State 
could put as high a tax as she chose upon 
any articles brought to her ports ; but that 
made little difference to the sellers, for 



WEAKNESS AND CONFUSION 19 

some other State was always ready to ad- 
mit them free of duty. In matters of 
trade, then, America was like a house with 
thirteen doors. It made no difference 
whether any one door were closed or not, 
since some of the others would always be 
open. 

America was buying of England five 
times as much as England was buying of 
America; and moreover, America was 
paying in coin. The result was that coin 
was becoming very scarce on this side of 
the ocean, so scarce that many places were 
almost without any, and people had to go 
back to the old fashion of barter. If a 
man wanted to buy a sheep, for instance, 
he had to pay for it in vegetables or hay 
or some other product, or in work, rather 
an inconvenient system of trading. One 
of the Massachusetts newspapers adver- 
tised that it would take pay in salt pork 
for subscriptions. 

What coin there was in the land was as 
confused as a nightmare. Here were 



20 STOEY OF OUK CONSTITUTION 

nearly four million people who had been 
successful in a contest with the most pow- 
erful country of Europe, and they used 
only second-hand coins, which had come to 
them from England, France, Spain, Ger- 
many, and other countries. Their names 
and their mottoes were in half a dozen dif- 
ferent languages. There were great cop- 
per pennies and golden guineas from En- 
gland; francs and sous from France; big, 
heavy silver dollars and golden doubloons 
from Spain, the Spanish Indies, and the 
mouth of the Mississippi River; and there 
were golden Johannes, or " joes," from 
Portugal and Brazil. There were bits 
and half-bits, ducats, halfpence, pica- 
yunes, flps, and at least a dozen others. 
Merely to learn the face value of these 
coins was no trifling matter; but this was 
only a small part of the knowledge re- 
quired to buy and sell so as neither to be 
cheated nor to cheat any one else. 

It would not have been so hopeless if 
these coins had been of the same value in 



WEAKNESS AND CONFUSION 21 

different parts of the country, or had even 
remained of the same value in any one 
place, or if counterfeiters and coin-clip- 
pers had not been constantly at work. 
Their business paid well. A copper coin 
with a wash of silver would often make its 
way in the world as an English sixpence. 
A French sou, worth about half a cent, 
could be nicely gilded and would then 
sometimes pass for a gold Portuguese coin 
worth $6.50. Even worse than this was 
the clipping of coins. A French livre, 
for instance, was not required to weigh as 
much in America as in France. There- 
fore, clipping this coin was especially com- 
mon. Indeed, it was once done by Con- 
gress itself when hopelessly short of 
funds; for when a loan arrived from 
France in livres, each coin was promptly 
cut down to the American weight. Dis- 
honest folk of the day did not stop at that, 
but clipped away diligently as far as they 
could and still hope to pass the coins. In- 
deed, matters became so bad that when a 



22 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

debt was to be paid, the creditor had to 
bring out his scales and weigh every coin 
to make sure of getting the amount due 
him. It was ten years after the Declara- 
tion of Independence before our simple 
and easy decimal system of coinage was 
adopted. Up to that date the United 
States coined nothing but copper cents. 

Both the United States and many of 
the separate States issued paper money, 
however — promises to pay with nothing 
to back them up! At first people were 
delighted. It was such a fine thing to 
have money plentiful! Why vote for 
taxation when nothing but a printing- 
press and some paper were necessary? 
Little by little, this money began to lose 
even its imaginary value until, near the 
end of the Revolutionary War, it took, as 
Washington said, " a wagon-load of 
money to buy a wagon-load of potatoes." 



CHAPTER II 

KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHER 

No government can be carried on with- 
out money and power. As to money, 
Congress needed it badly. The pay of 
the soldiers was long overdue. The sal- 
aries of officers and employees of the Gov- 
ernment at home and of representatives 
abroad were in arrears. Forts were 
needed to protect from the Indians the 
settlers in what was then the " far West." 
Americans who had lent their savings to 
the Government had not received even the 
interest on their loans. France in the 
darkest days of the Revolution had helped 
with men and treasure to win the war, and 
had continued her generosity even after 
the contest had come to an end. Holland 
and Spain were also our creditors. The 
Union was grateful, but it could not pay. 

What could be done? No more money 



24 STORY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

could be borrowed, and it was very diffi- 
cult to raise any by taxation. Sometimes 
a State declared that the amount required 
of it was unjust, and refused to pay. 
Sometimes a State refused unless Con- 
gress would oblige some other State to 
grant it a desired privilege. Some States 
issued notes to serve as money, as has been 
said; but this did not make matters much 
better, for while the legislature of a State 
could oblige its citizens to accept the notes 
of their own State, it could not force them 
to accept those of any other. Sometimes 
merchants stopped carrying on business 
rather than accept payment in such notes. 
The agreement under which the States 
lived, the Articles of Confederation, as it 
was called, formed a " league of friend- 
ship " and nothing more; for the colonists 
had been so anxious to be " free " that 
they had given Congress no power to en- 
force its decrees. The lawless, who are in 
every land and who delight in disorder 
and opposition to any control, were con- 



KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHER 25 

stantly ai work trying to overthrow what 
government there was. 

^Europe, and especially England, were 
watching the course of events in America. 
" That Union will never stand," they said. 
" It will soon fall to pieces, and the Amer- 
icans will be glad enough to beg England 
to take them back under a government 
strong enough to rule and protect its peo- 
ple." Indeed, Europe had good warrant 
for such belief, for scattered all over the 
country were groups planning to cut loose 
from the Confederation, and some of them 
thinking of calling upon England for pro- 
tection. 

The Union had held together while its 
people were struggling for independence; 
but now that they had won their independ- 
ence, there was nothing to keep them 
united, or rather, there was only one thing, 
namely, the Northwest Territory. This 
was the land lying between the Mississippi 
and the Ohio Rivers. Four States had 
claims upon it, but one by one they finally 



26 STOET OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

gave up their claims into the hands of the 
general Government. This was between 
1780 and 1786. Congress made treaties 
with the Indians of the Territory, made 
fair laws for its government, and threw it 
open to immigrants. It was valuable 
enough to pay the whole cost of the war 
and more, too. If a State left the Union 
and set up for herself, she would lose her 
share of this wealth. At last there was 
something in which every State was inter- 
ested. 

The compact by which the States had 
agreed to be governed, the "Articles of 
Confederation," was quite a lengthy docu- 
ment. It emphasized the independence 
of each State, and declared that the object 
of the Union was that these States might 
assist one another. It promised that any 
citizen of one State should have the same 
rights of trade and commerce in any other 
as if he had been an inhabitant of that 
State. Money needed for the general 
welfare was to be provided by the States 



KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHER 27 

in proportion to their wealth. The deci- 
sions of Congress were to be " inviolably 
observed " by every State. 

This sounded well, but if any State did 
not wish to " inviolably observe," Con- 
gress had no power to force it to obey. 
Another difficulty was in regard to appor- 
tioning taxes. In voting, the State was 
represented, but the people were not, for 
each State, large or small, had but one 
vote. These Americans had fought for 
seven years to make sure of representa- 
tion, and they did not propose to be gov- 
erned without that representation now 
that they had been victorious. 

Of course, long before this the people 
who thought rather than grumbled had 
seen that if there was to be any commerce 
with other countries, Congress must be 
able to make treaties that would bind 
every State; if it was to carry on the Gov- 
ernment, it must be able to raise money to 
work with. In short, it must have power. 
The States must yield some of their " sov- 



28 STOKY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

ereignty, freedom, and independence," as 
the Articles put it, and consider what was 
for the best good of the whole Union. 

Washington had been especially trou- 
bled by the disagreements of the States. 
He had made many sacrifices for Amer- 
ica. By his eight years' absence he had 
greatly lessened the value of his property. 
He had risked his life not only in war, but 
in the certainty of being hanged as a 
traitor to the Mother Country if the 
struggle of the colonies should prove to be 
a rebellion rather than a revolution. He 
believed that this spacious America might 
become the land of the free, the land of 
peace and justice and uprightness ; and he 
saw it a collection of selfish, quarrelsome, 
and often lawless States. But he did not 
join the ranks of the grumblers. The 
States do not understand one another, he 
said; they must learn to look at matters 
from the point of view of one another. 
Instead of being rivals, they must learn 
that they have interests in common. They 



KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHER 29 

must become acquainted. The people of 
the East and the people of the West must 
be brought together. The way to bring 
them together is to make it more possible 
to go from one to the other. 

To lay out even the roughest roads 
through the wilderness would be an enor- 
mous undertaking. Travel by land was 
at the best extremely slow and full of dif- 
ficulties. To go from New England to 
Annapolis, for instance, through the most 
thickly settled parts of the country re- 
quired between two and three weeks. 
Travel by water was a different matter. 
To deepen the channels of the Potomac 
and the James Rivers and clear away ob- 
structions would not be mt all impossible 
or even especially difficult. It would be 
easy to connect the head waters of the Po- 
tomac with those of the Ohio. Vessels 
going up and down these waters would 
exchange the products of East and West; 
and such intercourse would do much to 
unite the people of the two parts of the 



30 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

country. This was a favorite scheme of 
Washington's even before the war, and 
after the war he had made a seven-hun- 
dred-mile horseback tour to the Mononga- 
hela River and through the wilderness of 
the Alleghany Mountains into the Shen- 
andoah Valley. A company was formed 
to carry his plans into effect, and he was 
chosen president. 

Here was a matter in which four States, 
Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
Delaware, were interested. They would 
have to meet and agree upon questions of 
duties; why not, then, invite the other 
States to send commissioners for informal 
talk about desirable laws for trade? So 
said the Virginia legislature, and in the 
name of the governor of Virginia an invi- 
tation was sent to the other nine States. 
When the day came, Washington and the 
others who were most interested must have 
been badly disappointed, for besides Vir- 
ginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, only 
two other States were represented. Mas- 



KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHEK 31 

sachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Is- 
land, and North Carolina had indeed 
made appointments, but their commission- 
ers had not arrived. Maryland had not 
taken the trouble even to name commis- 
sioners. 

There was only one thing to do, and 
that was to adjourn and start for home. 
But of course the men who were there had 
informal consultations together, and they 
decided to ask all the States to send dele- 
gates to a convention to be held in Phila- 
delphia some eight months later, with the 
object, they said frankly, of planning how 
to make the Government strong enough to 
meet the needs of the Union. 

Everybody had been so independent, so 
afraid of " oppression," that no one had 
ventured to say much about giving more 
power to Congress; but people were be- 
ginning to feel alarmed and doubtful 
whether a weak Congress was after all 
what they really wanted. Even the most 
independent among them were question- 



32 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ing whether bankruptcy, rebellions, dis- 
putes with Spain, threats of separation 
and of appeals to England for protec- 
tion, together with a general and increas- 
ing lawlessness were just what they had 
been struggling for. 

Of course there were all shades of opin- 
ion. Some of those who opposed giving 
power to Congress had not had enough of 
monarchy, and would have been glad to 
set up a king. Some thought that the 
country was entirely too large for a single 
republic. The men of the East were 
chiefly fishermen or merchants, they said, 
and these would form one republic. The 
men of the South were farmers and plant- 
ers. Their wishes and needs were quite 
different from those of the New England- 
ers, and so they would form a second re- 
public. The people of New York and the 
other Middle States would form a third. 

Massachusetts was won for the conven- 
tion by a rebellion that took place on her 
own soil. There was little coin to be had, 



KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHER 33 

and tKe State had refused to issue paper 
" notes." People who owed money could 
not pay, and as the law was then, they 
could be put into prison for non-payment. 
One Daniel Shays led a company of debt- 
ors against the court-houses in several 
Massachusetts towns, and prevented the 
laws from, being carried out. Barns were 
burned, houses robbed, and the arsenal at 
Springfield attacked before the rebellion 
could be subdued. 

Part of this trouble was caused by the 
fact that Congress could not raise money 
to pay debts which were due to Massachu- 
setts people. This set the Bay State citi- 
zens to thinking. They began to realize 
that a country with no way to enforce its 
laws was a poor place in which to live. 
Perhaps this proposed convention would 
better the condition of affairs. While 
they were discussing the matter, news 
came from Virginia that George Wash- 
ington had been named as the first dele- 
gate. This settled the question, for where 



34: STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

he led, no true patriot need hesitate to fol- 
low. Before this, Massachusetts had op- 
posed every attempt to strengthen Con- 
gress. Only a few months earlier she had 
actually formed a scheme to separate New 
England from the rest of the country. 
She had now seen for herself that a 
stronger power than that of the State was 
sometimes required, and from that mo- 
ment Massachusetts was one of the most 
earnest friends of a strong central govern-, 
ment. 

Connecticut just escaped a similar up- 
rising. The farmers could not pay their 
taxes, and more than five hundred farms 
were advertised for sale. These must be 
sold for cash, and as cash was so hard to 
get, their prices were put very low. Often 
a farmer whose farm was sold for taxes 
received only one-tenth of its real value. 
Just who was to blame for this was not 
clear, but the orders came from the courts 
and were made out by the lawyers ; there- 
fore the people turned upon the courts 



KEEPING THE UNION TOGETHER 35 

and the lawyers. The country was not 
only in confusion, but was on the verge of 
anarchy. It was time for a convention. 

Five or six States had already chosen 
their delegates, but here and there was a 
feeling that it was not quite according to 
law for such a convention to be called by 
any other authority than that of Congress. 
At length a motion was made in Congress 
that this body itself should call a meeting 
at Philadelphia on the date named, that is, 
should formally adopt the plan already 
formed. This motion was carried, and 
now the greatest stickler for legality 
might feel his mind at rest. 



CHAPTER III 

THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 

Delegates were chosen by the legisla- 
tures, and the legislatures of the different 
States did not all meet on the same date. 
Traveling was, as has been said, difficult 
and full of dangers. When a man set out 
on a journey he could only guess at the 
time of his arrival. Most of the delegates 
came to Philadelphia on horseback. Sev- 
eral of those from Virginia came by boat. 
The treasury of New Hampshire was 
empty, and there was some delay before 
" real money " for the expenses of her 
delegates could be raised. Rhode Island 
would have nothing to do with the con- 
vention. She was repudiating debts and 
issuing large quantities of paper money. 
" They are afraid of everything that may 
become a control on them," Madison 

wrote to his father of her citizens. 
36 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 37 

Washington had hesitated about ac- 
cepting his appointment as delegate. The 
Cincinnati were to meet at the same time 
and in the same city and wished him to ac- 
cept a second term as their president. 
He had refused on the ground of private 
business, and now felt that he could rot 
properly accept this later appointment. 
Moreover, as he said, he did not wish to be 
swept back into the tide of public affairs. 
His life since the close of the war had been 
as fully occupied as it was during the 
struggle. He had taken leave of his offi- 
cers with great affection, and with tears in 
their eyes they had silently watched him 
while he entered the barge that was to 
carry him to Paulus Hook, New Jersey, 
on his way to Mount Vernon. For his 
services as commander-in-chief of the 
army he had refused any compensation, 
but had agreed to keep an account of his 
expenses. This account he now presented 
to the comptroller of the treasury, in Phil- 
adelphia. In Annapolis, where Congress 



38 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

was then in session, he formally laid down 
his sword. " I here offer my commis- 
sion," he said, " and take my leave of all 
the employments of public life." 

So it was that he returned to beautiful 
Mount Vernon, which he had not seen for 
eight years; but the peace and quiet for 
which he had longed he could not find even 
there. Guests came in a constant stream. 
Everybody wrote to him. Some sent him 
inquiries which, as he said, " would re- 
quire the pen of a historian to satisfy." 
People applied for favors of all sorts. 
One requested the loan of his private pa- 
pers to assist in writing a history of the 
events of the war. One asked him to 
write to Europe for a wolf-hound. An- 
other wished permission to dedicate an 
arithmetic to him. The Empress of Rus- 
sia begged him to collect for her the vo- 
cabularies of some of the Indian tribes — 
and he did. Little Mademoiselle Lafay- 
ette, eight years old, wrote him a letter, 
which received a prompt reply. Those 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 39 

who could think of nothing else to write 
about, sent him pages of compliments. 
Everybody who had ever wielded a paint- 
brush wanted him to sit for his portrait. 

And all this while he was longing to 
give his time to his family and his estate. 
That his place should have some attention 
was very necessary. During his long ab- 
sence he had received weekly reports from 
his overseer; but for eight years Mount 
Vernon had missed its master's hand, and 
it was sadly in need of care. This was the 
" private business " which demanded his 
presence. 

His finances were troubling him. For 
two years his crops had failed. He could 
not collect debts that were long overdue. 
His living expenses were much increased 
by the numerous visitors. He wrote his 
mother that he had no idea where he could 
get a shilling toward the taxes that were 
due; he would not be in debt, and he 
feared lest he should have to sell part of 
his estate. His country was not ungrate- 



40 STOEY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

ful; but when he learned that through 
Congress the whole nation was to be in- 
vited to unite in a gift to him, he grate- 
fully declined it in advance ; he would take 
no rewards for serving his own land. 
Even when the companies formed to con- 
nect the Virginia rivers with the Ohio 
wished to present him with shares worth 
many thousands of dollars, he refused to 
accept the gift, because he believed that he 
could arouse the interest of the people in 
the undertaking more surely if they knew 
that he had no selfish concern in it. 

Surely, no one could have blamed 
Washington if he had left public business 
to others and had spent a little time in at- 
tending to his own affairs. When he left 
the army, he said that he hoped to pass the 
remainder of his life "in a state of un- 
disturbed repose," and he felt sure that be- 
coming a delegate would be the beginning 
of a return to public life. But duty to 
his country came first with him, and when 
Shays's Rebellion showed so plainly the 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 41 

lawlessness of the land, he laid aside all 
thoughts of his own advantage and ac- 
cepted the appointment. 

Washington never accepted any posi- 
tion without preparing himself as thor- 
oughly as possible to fill it well. Now that 
he had agreed to be present at the con- 
vention, he set to work to make his pres- 
ence of value. He read the standard books 
on politics, and he read also the history of 
a number of the modern and ancient con- 
federacies. He pondered over these; he 
made outlines of what he read; and he 
noted in each case its good points and its 
bad ones and why it was a success or a 
failure. 

The convention was to meet on Mon- 
day, the 14th of May, 1787. Five days 
earlier, Washington set out from Mount 
Vernon in his carriage. Of course he 
could not make his appearance anywhere 
in the country without receiving all the 
honors that the people could show him. 
Fourteen miles from Philadelphia he was 



42 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

met by the speaker of the Pennsylvania 
Assembly and a number of officers and 
prominent men of the State, who rode be- 
side his carriage. At Gray's Ferry, two 
miles from the city, stood the Philadel- 
phia Light-Horse drawn up ready to 
escort him into town. As they entered, 
the bells on all the churches rang in joyful 
greeting, and the crowd that lined the 
streets shouted their welcome. He had in- 
tended to stay at a boarding-house, but, 
as he wrote in his diary, " Being again 
warmly and kindly pressed by M r & 
M rs Rob* Morris to lodge with them, I 
did so, and had my baggage removed 
thither." 

Robert Morris had come to this country 
from England when he was only thirteen. 
He soon found a position in a business 
house, and from that day his rise to fame 
and fortune was quite like that of some of 
the heroes of the " Oliver Optic " books, 
for at twenty he and the son of his em* 
ployer formed a partnership, and twenty 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 43 

years later they were at the head of the 
largest business house in Philadelphia. 
When war broke out, he was made a dele- 
gate to the Continental Congress, and he 
was one of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. He was the " financial 
backer" of the Revolution, and at the 
times when it seemed as if for the lack of 
money the cause must fail,, he always 
came to the rescue. 

One of those times was six months after 
the signing of the Declaration, when 
Washington was trying to recruit his 
army. This he could not do without 
money for bounties, good hard money in 
coins of gold and silver. Morris had been 
made financial agent of the United States, 
and to him Washington appealed to raise 
the sum needed. Morris felt that he must 
do it — but could he? The story is told 
that he was walking away from his office, 
wondering how to get that money, when 
he met a wealthy Quaker and told him of 
the trouble. " Robert, what security canst 



44 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

thou give?" the Quaker asked. " My 
note and my honor," Morris replied. 
Both stood high, and the Quaker said cor- 
dially, " Thou shalt have it." The follow- 
ing morning, $50,000 went to the anxious 
commander-in-chief. So it was that Rob- 
ert Morris pledged his wealth and his 
honor for the cause of the States. 

One day some five years later three men 
with troubled faces and troubled hearts 
stood talking together. They had just 
heard that the French fleet could not leave 
the West Indies, and without the fleet the 
proposed campaign against the British in 
New York would fail. But a campaign 
against Cornwallis could be entered upon 

" if " They all knew what that " if " 

meant. "What can you do for me?" 
Washington asked, and the secretary of 
the board of war replied gravely, " With 
money, everything; without it, nothing." 
" Let me know what you want," said 
Morris. The result of this little talk was 
that thousands of barrels of flour and 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 45 

everything else needed were supplied, and 
Morris gave his own notes for $1,400,000. 
It was because of these supplies that 
Washington was able to pursue Cornwal- 
lis, and it was Cornwallis's surrender that 
practically put an end to the war. How 
much Morris and Washington must have 
had to talk over that Sunday evening in 
Morris's home in Philadelphia! 

Benjamin Franklin was then president 
of Pennsylvania, and of course Washing- 
ton had called on him as soon as he 
reached town. Franklin's life, like 
Washington's, had been devoted to his 
country, but in an entirely different way. 
It is true that he went into the field, and 
was urged to let himself be made com- 
mander of an expedition; but he was wise 
enough to see that he could do more for 
the colonies in other ways than by using 
his sword. Indeed, what the country 
would have done without him is a ques- 
tion. Some one has called him " the in- 
carnated common sense of his time." He 



46 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

founded the University of Pennsylvania 
and the Philadelphia Library. He was 
the first postmaster-general. He pub- 
lished the famous " Poor Richard's Al- 
manac," full of wise advice put so amus- 
ingly that people remembered it and fol- 
lowed it whether they meant to or not. 
" The sleeping fox catches no poultry," 
was a better argument for early rising 
than the time-worn advice to " get up 
early." " Help, hands, for I have no 
lands; or if I have, they are smartly 
taxed," would catch every one's attention 
at a time when every one was groaning 
over taxation. 

As a scientist, nothing was too large 
and nothing was too small to interest him ; 
and just as soon as he discovered a new 
fact, he set to work to make it useful. He 
invented the Franklin stove, which, he 
said, " kept him twice as warm with one- 
fourtH as much wood." He studied the 
Gulf Stream, and when he was postmas- 
ter-general, he arranged to send mails by 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 47 

the routes which took advantage of it. He 
was equally interested in how to cure 
smoky chimneys and in the effects upon 
the waves of the ship cook's greasy water 
thrown out through a porthole. 

The discovery that brought him most 
fame was that lightning and electricity 
are one and the same. So little was known 
of electricity in those days that it was 
quite an exciting experience to " take a 
shock." Six young Germans called on 
Franklin one day. They had not much 
confidence in the reports of the power of 
electricity, and they had " come to see 
whether there was anything in it." " Give 
us a thumper," they said, and he did. In 
a moment they lay side by side on the 
floor like so many ninepins. They ad- 
mitted that there was " something in it." 

Franklin was famous throughout Eu- 
rope for his scientific discoveries. Indeed, 
he had been famous before the majority 
of the delegates could remember. Twenty 
years before the Revolution, he had re- 



48 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ceived honorary degrees from Oxford and 
Edinburgh. He had been made a mem- 
ber of the Royal Society, and the greatest 
men of Europe were proud to be counted 
his friends. 

It was this wise, shrewd, famous Amer- 
ican who had been sent to England to 
speak for the colonies, and to France to 
win friends and money for them. 
Wherever he went, he was always the 
same sensible, level-headed man. No 
amount of praise could sweep him off his 
feet, and no blame ever made him lose his 
bearings. When he was to be formally 
received at the court of France, he did not 
think it proper for a plain American citi- 
zen to follow the elaborate French fash- 
ions in dress. Then, too, it was cold 
weather, and it would be somewhat dan- 
gerous to change his woolen stockings for 
fine silk. On this momentous question 
King Louis himself was consulted. He 
replied that Dr. Franklin was welcome to 
come to court in any dress he pleased. So 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 49 

the blue yarn stockings made their appear- 
ance at the sumptuous court of France; 
and the conversation of their wearer was 
so brilliant that the courtiers forgot to 
look at them. Paris ran wild over him, 
his learning, his charming talk, his simple, 
independent ways, and his perfect tact. 
Wherever he went, he was followed by 
crowds of admirers. He was both witty 
and dignified, and not in the least elated 
by his glory. He was so popular in 
France that even if King Louis had been 
inclined to refuse aid to America, he 
would hardly have ventured to arouse the 
wrath of his people by refusing it to 
Franklin. 

When the time came for a treaty to be 
made between England and the United 
States, Franklin was at his best. With 
apparent expectation of getting just what 
he wanted, he calmly proposed that, since 
England had injured the colonies by the 
war, the Mother Country should cede 
Canada and Nova Scotia to the United 



50 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

States by way of reparation. This would 
pay the American losses, he said serenely, 
and it would enable the United States to 
make good the property of the Tories 
which had been confiscated. Of course 
Franklin knew fully as well as King 
George and his friends that this would 
never be agreed to ; but the bold stand of 
the American commissioner gave the 
Americans something to bring forward by 
way of compromise when the English 
commissioners with equal coolness re- 
quested compensation for giving up sev- 
eral American cities then in the hands of 
the British troops. There were many 
complications in making this treaty, but 
the tact and clear-sightedness of Franklin 
and the ability of his two associates made 
it a great success. 

In 1785, Franklin returned to America, 
almost eighty years of age. Like Wash- 
ington, he would gladly have had a little 
time of quiet, but Pennsylvania at once 
demanded him as president of the State; 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 51 

and he held this position for three years. 
It was during his third year that he was 
made delegate to the convention. 

These delegates were what Daniel 
Webster would have called a " respect- 
able " [that is, worthy of respect] body of 
men. Six of them had signed the Decla- 
ration of Independence. Out of fifty-five, 
more than half were graduates of either 
American or English universities. There 
were lawyers, financiers, clear-headed 
thinkers, men of genius, men who could 
make masterly speeches, and men who 
only listened, thought, and voted. Some 
had been officers in the army, governors 
of States, or congressmen. Some were 
plain, honest men with no brilliant record 
behind them, but with a sincere love for 
their country and a strong resolution to 
do for her the very best that was in them. 

Not many of the delegates were so 
punctual as Washington. Some had been 
delayed by storms. Some had been slow 
in starting. Some were not even ap- 



52 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

pointed until it was too late for them to 
reach Philadelphia on time. The dele- 
gates from Virginia and Pennsylvania, 
however, were all on the minute. Indeed, 
some of them arrived several days earlier 
than Washington. It was eleven days be- 
fore a quorum of States was present. 
There had been no waste of time, however, 
for the hours were filled with informal 
talks in little groups of two or three; and 
every afternoon all who had reached the 
city met for a general discussion. The 
Virginia delegates were especially glad to 
have this time together. The suggestion 
of the convention had come from their 
State, and so her delegates felt them- 
selves bound to have a definite plan to 
propose to the others. These conversa- 
tions enabled them to learn the point of 
view of one another and made it possible 
for them later to vote as a unit. 

The leader of the Virginians was James 
Madison, a man whose knowledge and 
thoughtful opinions had come to be looked 




James Madison. 
From Painting by Gilbert Stuart. 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 53 

upon with great respect. He had been a 
quiet, scholarly boy, so fond of study that, 
after Princeton had given him a diploma, 
he stayed at college another year in order 
to work on Hebrew. He came home, and 
still he studied — history, law, theology, 
constitutional law — everything was grist 
that came to his mill. When he was in 
college, he had once for several months 
given only three hours out of the twenty- 
four to sleep ; and it is hard to see how he 
could have been much more generous with 
himself at home, for he had eleven broth- 
ers and sisters, and he acted as their tutor. 
He was only twenty-two years old, but 
probably they looked upon him with the 
utmost veneration, and supposed he was 
at least a hundred. 

In 1774, when people began to see that 
there would be trouble with England, the 
student was aroused. Even if he had 
spent his twenty-three years apart from 
public affairs, he was a true American, 
and when he was put on the committee of 



54 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

safety — possibly because of his father's 
reputation — he accepted promptly. Some 
of his neighbors had declared that he was 
too much of a student to be of any value 
on the committee; but evidently his neigh- 
bors were mistaken, for although he was 
the " baby member," he was made a dele- 
gate to the State convention two years 
later. He was pale and slender. His 
light hair was combed straight back and 
braided in a queue tied with a black rib- 
bon. He looked like a particularly shy 
young minister, rather alarmed at the pos- 
sibility of having to preach before so many 
older folk. Indeed, he made a motion 
only once, and then he did not venture to 
make a speech to support it. 

Everybody knew that the quiet young 
man had knowledge, and somehow they 
must have found out that he had ability 
and statesmanship, for he was made a 
delegate to the Continental Congress in 
1780. He attended strictly to the busi- 
ness of being a delegate, whether this 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 55 

agreed with his convenience or not. It 
was hardly a paying occupation, for al- 
though Virginia voted her delegates a 
generous allowance for their maintenance, 
it was, in the lack of money, seldom paid. 
They made common cause, and when any 
one of them was so lucky as to receive a 
check, he shared it with the others. 
Checks came seldom, however, and at 
length Madison found himself so deeply 
in debt that he had to borrow money of a 
broker, a Polish Jew. This Jew was a 
good American, for when his debtor spoke 
about the interest, he said, " But I take 
no interest from any member of Con- 
gress." 

Madison held one public position after 
another, doing excellently well in all, and 
showing such wisdom and sound judg- 
ement that people began to call him 
" Colonel," which was used as a title of 
supreme respect fully as often as one of 
military distinction. It was quite to be 
expected that he would be one of the dele- 



56 STOEY OF OUK CONSTITUTION 

gates from Virginia to the convention at 
Philadelphia. Indeed, he was the leader of 
the delegation. He no longer appeared 
the " shy young minister " of his earlier 
years. He had become accustomed to 
people, and they liked him and respected 
him. He had a keen sense of humor and 
was an agreeable companion. 

The eleven days were also useful so- 
cially, if all the delegates were as much 
sought after as Washington. He ate a 
" family dinner " at Mr. Morris's and 
" drank tea in a very large circle of 
ladies." On one day he was present at a 
wedding feast, and on another he dined 
" in great splendor," as his diary declares. 
In short, he was invited somewhere every 
day, and apparently enjoyed himself 
everywhere. 

By the 25th a quorum had arrived, and 
the delegates came together. Washington 
was unanimously elected president. A 
committee was chosen to prepare rules of 
order for the convention, and the meet- 



THE COMING OF THE DELEGATES 57 

ing was adjourned until Monday, the 
28th. 

When Monday came, delegates from 
two other States had reached the city. At 
the appointed hour, they all assembled in 
a simple, dignified brick building on 
Chestnut Street, the State House, but 
now known as Independence Hall. In 
this building, the Second Continental 
Congress had held its meetings. Here 
Washington was elected commander-in- 
chief of the Continental forces. Here the 
Declaration of Independence was adopted 
and signed, and in the belfry overhead 
hung the bell that had rung out the news 
of freedom to the waiting city. Many of 
the delegates had been present on some of 
these occasions, and they must have real- 
ized that the work in which they were 
about to engage was quite as important as 
any that had been done within those walls. 
What they were to accomplish during the 
next four months would show to the world 
whether the freedom for which they had 



58 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

risked their lives was freedom indeed or 
only the beginning of anarchy. They en- 
tered the house and the doors were shut. 
Fifty years were to pass before the dis- 
cussions that went on behind those closed 
doors were to become known. 



CHAPTER IV 

A NEW CONSTITUTION 

When the convention met, on May 
28th, the rules of order were presented by 
the committee, and proved to be simple 
and sensible. A complicated motion was 
to be divided into its parts, and each part 
voted on separately. If the delegates of 
any State preferred to postpone a vote to 
the following day, this was to be done. 
How voting was to be carried on in the 
sessions was a difficult question to decide. 
Naturally, as the larger States repre- 
sented more people, they thought they 
ought to have more votes; and quite as 
naturally, the smaller States did not agree 
to this. Indeed, the delegates from Dela- 
ware had been absolutely forbidden to 
submit to anything of the kind. The 

Virginia delegates very wisely concluded 
59 



60 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

that it would be better to avoid the oppo- 
sition of the smaller States and make no 
objection to their having an equal vote, 
trusting to their being reasonable and 
yielding if this was at any time about to 
interfere with forming a strong, trust- 
worthy government. 

The rules for attention were as strict as 
those of any schoolroom, for while a mem- 
ber was speaking, no one was allowed to 
talk or read " book, pamphlet, or paper, 
printed or manuscript " — they were noth- 
ing if not definite, those makers of the 
Constitution, and they left no loopholes. 
They looked out for the manners of their 
members, too, for it was positively for- 
bidden to walk between the president and 
the person speaking; and on adjournment 
every member was commanded to stand in 
his place until the president had passed 
him. 

A letter was presented and read, signed 
by a number of the substantial citizens of 
Rhode Island, regretting that the upper 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 61 

house of their legislature had refused to 
appoint delegates, and promising to do 
their utmost to have the conclusions of the 
convention adopted by their State. 

The convention then adjourned, but at 
the next meeting the lines of good be- 
havior were drawn even more strictly, for 
it was voted that no member should be ab- 
sent without leave, that no committees 
should sit " while the house shall be, or 
ought to be, sitting." Evidently, there 
was to be no wasting valuable time in that 
convention. Members were to attend 
strictly to business. 

It was also decided that no word spoken 
in the house should be repeated beyond its 
walls. But Madison, the student of an- 
cient republics, knew well that, while the 
convention would pass, the day would 
surely come at some future time when 
every word of the constitution that he 
hoped to see formed would be closely 
scanned, and when details of how it was 
formed would help to interpret its mean- 



62 STOEY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

ing. Therefore he took his seat with quill 
and inkhorn directly in front of Washing- 
ton, where he could hear every word, and 
took notes of what was said. He never 
missed a session, and each day, after he 
went home to his lodgings, he wrote out 
his notes. Half a century later, Madison 
died. He was the last survivor of the 
fifty-five makers of the Constitution. 
There was no longer any reason for se- 
crecy, and the notes were then published. 

There was one point, the most essential 
of all, upon which it was certain that the 
members would not at first agree. This 
was, as has been said, whether to patch up 
the old ship and try to keep it afloat by 
pumping, or to build a new one. That is, 
should they try to amend the old Articles 
of Confederation by which they had been 
governed — or rather, not governed — or 
should they form a new constitution? 

Now was the time for the Virginia dele- 
gates to bring forward their plan. Ed- 
mund Randolph, of their number, gov- 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 63 

ernor of Virginia, was an experienced 
speaker; and therefore this had been left 
to him. He spoke first of the Articles of 
Confederation, and pointed out their 
weakness so forcibly that the listeners 
must have wondered how they had ever 
lived under them a single day. If enemies 
come to our shores, he said, Congress can 
do nothing to protect us. Congress can- 
not raise an army, neither can it raise 
money ; and no army of volunteers can be 
raised without money. It cannot even set- 
tle a quarrel between States or a rebellion 
against its own authority. Congress has 
no power to impose duties; in short, it is 
far less strong than the constitution of 
many of the States. The whole country 
is in danger of anarchy, and Congress is 
so feeble that it can do nothing but advise 
and suggest. 

Governor Randolph then read the fif- 
teen resolutions that the Virginia dele- 
gates had agreed upon. These gave an 
outline of a government as they believed 



64 STOEY OF OIJE CONSTITUTION 

it should be. He made it perfectly clear 
that he was not aiming at patching up the 
old Confederation in the hope that it 
would somehow get along; but at estab- 
lishing a strong government in which the 
Union and not the individual State should 
be the supreme power. " This is the op- 
portunity," he said, " to establish peace, 
harmony, happiness, and liberty. I beg 
that you will not suffer it to pass away un- 
improved." 

Then there was discussion indeed. What 
do you mean by " supreme power? " was 
asked. It was explained that it meant a 
government above that of the separate 
States; a government of such authority 
that if its decrees clashed with those of 
the States, the States were to yield. To 
some of the members the suggestion to put 
such power into the hands of Congress 
seemed as momentous as it would seem 
to-day if it were proposed to take away 
most of the powers of Congress and put 
them into the hands of the separate States. 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 65 

Everybody talked and everybody ques- 
tioned. Do you mean to abolish the State 
governments altogether? Have we any 
right even to discuss a new government in 
a convention called by the old govern- 
ment? Is it wise to pass amendments that 
the States will never agree to? When the 
question was put: " Resolved, That a na- 
tional government ought to be established, 
consisting of a supreme legislative, execu- 
tive, and jjudiciary" it was passed by a 
vote of six to one. It was a strenuous day, 
and it is no wonder that Washington was 
glad to go to a party that evening. 

The New York vote was divided, Alex- 
ander Hamilton voting for the Constitu- 
tion, the other delegate present voting 
against it. New York had played a 
shrewd game. It was certain that a new 
constitution would be proposed, and New 
York did not wish to have any " supreme 
power" making changes in her commer- 
cial regulations; so she had sent with 
Hamilton two other delegates who would 



66 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

be sure to vote against giving up the Ar- 
ticles of Confederation. 

There would be a new constitution, that 
was now settled — if the separate States 
accepted the work of the convention. It 
was decided that the " national legisla- 
ture," that is, Congress, should consist of 
a lower and an upper house [the House of 
Representatives and the Senate]. This 
vote would have been unanimous had not 
Pennsylvania, probably out of respect to 
the opinion of Franklin, who thought a 
single house better, voted against it. 

The next question was how the States 
should be represented in Congress. That 
touched a sensitive point. The wealthy 
States would, of course, have preferred to 
have representation based upon the taxes 
which were paid to the government; the 
Southern States would have liked to base 
it upon the number of inhabitants; the 
Northern States would have preferably 
counted only the free inhabitants. Vir- 
ginia had generously suggested that it 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 67 

might be based upon either property or 
free inhabitants. The tactful course was 
to let the matter rest for a while. It 
would be enough for the time being to 
agree that some change in the old system 
of representation should be made. Later, 
they could settle details. 

There was no reason, however, why the 
question how Congress should be elected 
should not be considered; but here, too, 
there was a decided difference of opinion. 
The lower house was first discussed. 
Some thought that members ought 
to be elected by the legislatures of the 
States. 

" I expect our federal pyramid to rise 
high," said one member, " and therefore I 
wish to give it as broad a base as possible. 
I believe that the whole people should 
choose their representatives in the lower 
house." 

" But the great body of the people are 
not well informed in matters of govern- 
ment; they are easily misled," objected a 



68 STOEY OF OUK CONSTITUTION 

third; and one who had just passed 
through the experience of Shays's Rebel- 
lion in Massachusetts agreed with him. 
"The people are often dupes," he said. 
" Men who have something to gain by it 
go about among them with their false 
stories, and there is no one at hand to show 
their falseness." 

" Still, the lower house is to be our 
House of Commons," said another 
thoughtfully. " It ought to know and 
sympathize with all kinds of people. We 
must look out for the rights of all, high or 
low." 

Then Mr. Madison made one of his 
quiet, reasonable speeches and turned the 
plan to elect by legislature into a sort of 
" House that Jack built." " In some of 
the States," he said, " the people choose 
electors, and the electors choose the legis- 
lators. Now if these legislators choose 
the lower house, and the lower house 
chooses the upper house, and the upper 
house chooses the executive, the people 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 69 

will be lost sight of. I believe that our 
great fabric to be raised will be more 
stable if it rests on the solid foundation of 
the people themselves, rather than on the 
pillars of the legislatures." It was " Re- 
solved: That the members of the lower 
house be chosen by the people/ 3 

The convention had now decided that 
there should be a new constitution, with 
legislative, executive, and judiciary pow- 
ers ; that Congress should be made up of 
two houses, and that the lower house 
should be elected by the people them- 
selves. It had passed over details and un- 
important matters, and had also put one 
side for the time questions that would 
have led to " irritating discussions." 
They had set to work wisely, those makers 
of the Constitution. They had not tried 
to find out in what they differed, but in 
what they agreed. When that was done 
and they had the substance of a constitu- 
tion before them, some of the points on 
which they now disagreed would not seem 



70 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

so important, and it might be easier to 
yield to one another. 

The legislative department would make 
the laws, but who would see that they were 
carried out and punish any who might not 
obey them? That would be the work of 
the executive division of the government, 
and of how many persons should this con- 
sist? Now that for nearly a century and 
a half we have had one man, a president, 
for chief executive, this does not seem a 
difficult question to decide; but it was a 
real puzzle to the honest men who were 
trying to do their best for the country in 
all the years to come. They had grown 
up under the rule of a king, but they had 
made their country into a republic, 
and they had no experience to guide 
them. 

One speaker came out boldly in favor of 
a single person. There was a dead pause. 
" Shall I put the question? " the chairman 
asked. " This is a point of great impor- 
tance," said Franklin, " and I hope that 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 71 

before the question is put, the gentlemen 
will deliver their sentiments on it." 

" Deliver their sentiments " they did, 
now that the ice was broken. Everybody 
had something to say. It was almost as 
if some one was thinking aloud somewhat 
like this: "One man would feel the re- 
sponsibility more than several. He need 
not stand alone, for a council could be ap- 
pointed to aid and advise him. Or, there 
might be three executives; but it would be 
rather difficult in military matters to have 
a general with three heads! 

"And how should he be chosen? Some 
States had been in the habit of choosing 
their chief magistrate by vote of the peo- 
ple. This had proved to be successful, 
but it might not be successful when tried 
throughout the country. The national 
legislature makes the laws, and perhaps it 
would be best for that body to choose the 
executive to enforce them. Would three 
years be too short a term of office? Would 
seven years be too long? If the executive 



72 STORY. OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

does not approve of any law passed by 
Congress, shall he have the right of veto? 
If he neglects his duties or acts contrary 
to law, how can he be deposed? Ought he 
to be paid a salary?" Franklin thought 
not, that the honor should be sufficient re- 
ward; and he spoke of the great com- 
mander-in-chief who had served his coun- 
try for eight years with no salary. If the 
House of Representatives were chosen di- 
rectly by the people, would it be well for 
the legislature to choose the Senate, and 
so represent the States as States? If so, 
how should it be chosen? " Realizing how 
weighty a question any one of these is, it 
is a wonder that the brains of these men 
did not whirl. Perhaps they did. 

So the discussion went on. From time 
to time a main point was laid aside until 
the way for it had been made more plain 
by clearing away some minor points. The 
rules of order had aimed at giving the 
delegates as much freedom as if they were 
thinking aloud. It was quite allowable 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 73 

to pass a motion for the time being in 
order to clear the road for another, even 
with the realization that this decision was 
not final and the matter would come up 
again later, and that if a member changed 
his mind during the interval, he could 
change his vote without being called fickle 
and inconsistent. 

The question of the equality of the 
States was always cropping up in one 
form or another. The small States took 
the ground that a State was a State, and 
one should have the same rights as an- 
other. The large States felt that the de- 
sires of many should carry more weight 
than the desires of a few. One member 
declared that the only satisfactory method 
of treating the matter would be to spread 
out a map of the United States and divide 
it into thirteen equal parts. Another said 
that if a large State was to have more 
votes than a small one, a rich man ought 
to have more votes than a poor man. 

Here were two parties, the supporters 



U STOEY OF OUft CONSTITUTION 

of the small States and the supporters of 
the large States. Neither party could 
understand why the other could not see 
the matter from their point of view. They 
were all getting a little nettled and out of 
patience. One of the New Jersey mem- 
bers had declared that neither he nor his 
State would ever " submit to despotism or 
to tyranny"; and a Pennsylvania dele- 
gate had suggested that the citizens of 
Pennsylvania were equal to those of New 
Jersey. This was the time for Franklin 
to make some of his tactful remarks. He 
reminded the members that no one was 
ever convinced by a man's declaring posi- 
tively that his mind was made up and he 
would never change it. " We are sent 
here," he said, " to consult, not to contend 
with each other." He smiled at the no- 
tion that the large States would swallow 
the smaller ones, and declared it to be 
fully as likely, under the Articles of Con- 
federation, that the small States would 
swallow the large ones. Quite in Frank- 



A NEW CONSTITUTION 75 

lin's own fashion he went on to prove his 
point mathematically. " Suppose, for ex- 
ample," he said, " that seven smaller 
States had each three members in the 
House, and the six larger to have, one 
with another, six members ; and that, upon 
a question, two members of each smaller 
State should be in the affirmative, and one 
in the negative, they would make affirma- 
tives, fourteen ; negatives, seven ; and that 
all the larger States should be unani- 
mously in the negative, they would make, 
negatives, thirty-six; in all, affirmatives, 
fourteen; negatives, forty-three. It is 
then apparent that the fourteen carry the 
question against the forty-three, and the 
minority overpowers the majority, con- 
trary to the common practice of assem- 
blies in all countries and ages." It was 
not very probable that such a case would 
occur, and the delegates must have smiled 
at the idea; but the smile cleared the air, 
and things went on more smoothly. 

The fifteen resolutions of the Virginia 



76 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

plan had now been acted upon or post- 
poned, and Judge Gorham, of Massachu- 
setts, had prepared a report summing up 
the action that had been taken. Just at 
this point New Jersey and several other 
States asked for more time to consider this 
plan, and also to present another, which 
they called " purely federal." 



CHAPTER V 

THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 

This " purely federal " plan had been 
prepared by the delegates from Connecti- 
cut, New York, New Jersey, and Dela- 
ware. All four opposed a strong national 
government, but not for the same reason. 
Connecticut and New York did not wish 
to have their State decrees interfered with 
by any " supreme government," and New 
Jersey and Delaware, two small States, 
had no idea of agreeing to any govern- 
ment that would give the large States 
more representatives than the small. 
They wanted a Congress of one house, and 
that house made up of the same numbers 
from each State, no matter what its size. 
They were willing to give Congress a few 
more powers, but no real power. The old 
question was brought up, whether they 
had any right to form a new constitution, 
77 



78 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

when they had been sent there by Con- 
gress to revise the old one. This had been 
gone over again and again, and it is little 
wonder that one member declared, maybe 
just a little scornfully, " Give New Jer- 
sey an equal vote, and she will dismiss her 
scruples." 

The New Jersey plan seemed at first 
reading to give Congress all necessary 
power. It did not cut loose from the Ar- 
ticles, but proposed merely to modify 
them to suit the changed circumstances. 
Congress should have the right to impose 
and collect taxes and make laws for com- 
merce. It could oblige the States to be 
obedient to its orders. The weak point 
was that Congress was to consist of one 
house, representing not persons, but 
States; and all States, whether rich or 
poor, with many citizens or few, were to 
have the same number of representatives. 
Power can come only from the people, not 
from the States. The New Jersey plan 
would throw the country into the same 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 79 

old troubles. Congress would have pow- 
ers, but no power. 

Madison now took the floor, and showed 
how one State after another had broken 
the Articles of Confederation. Georgia 
had made treaties with the Creek Indians ; 
Massachusetts had even then a body of 
troops — a standing army — in her pay. 
Several States had issued paper money 
with no coin behind it. New Jersey her- 
self had not been too obedient to refuse to 
obey a requisition of Congress. It would 
be easy to crush a small State, he said, and 
force her into obedience, but what about 
the large States? Would it be easy for 
such a Congress to oblige them to obey? 
Again, if no plan could be agreed upon, 
either each State would be independent of 
the others, or they would unite in several 
confederacies. Who would then protect 
the small States from their stronger neigh- 
bors? New States which would later come 
in from the West, would have at first few 
inhabitants ; but supposing all States had 



80 STOEY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

the same number of representatives, a mi- 
nority might easily become the rulers of 
the whole land. 

The convention was near coming to an 
abrupt end. The speakers became more 
and more angry. They began to declare 
that they " would never consent," that 
there were foreign powers ready to take 
them by the hand. "Gentlemen, I do 
not trust you," shouted wrathfully one of 
the Delaware members. 

Everybody made a speech, and no one's 
speech influenced any one else. It began 
to look as if the convention would surely 
dissolve, and each man would put on his 
hat and start for home. Would a com- 
promise be possible? Two of the Con- 
necticut delegates thought it might. 
They proposed that the lower house 
should be national and the upper house be 
federal; that is, that the House of Repre- 
sentatives should represent the people, and 
the Senate the States. Franklin always 
enjoyed a simple, everyday illustration, 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 81 

and now he said, " When a broad table is 
to be made, and the edges of the planks 
do not fit, the artist takes a little from 
both, and makes a good joint." 

No one was very enthusiastic about the 
compromise, but from sheer helplessness 
they at length put it to vote whether each 
State should be allowed to send one rep- 
resentative to the upper house. One State 
after another voted, one in favor, one 
against; and so it went on until the vote of 
five States had been recorded for the mo- 
tion and five against it. Ten States were 
represented, and all but one, Georgia, had 
voted. Mr. Houston, of Georgia, voted 
no. Then everybody's gaze turned upon 
his colleague, a young man named Abra- 
ham Baldwin. He was a Yale graduate, 
a Connecticut man, but now a lawyer of 
Savannah. His vote would decide the 
fate of the motion. He did not agree 
with it, but if he said no, the compromise 
would fail. Probably the convention 
would dissolve; and it must be kept to- 



82 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

gether. He voted yes. It was a tie, and 
the motion was lost. If New Hampshire 
and Rhode Island had been present, they 
would doubtless have voted for a compro- 
mise; therefore it was not given up, but a 
committee was appointed to draw up a 
form of compromise. 

Three days they had for this piece of 
work, for the delegates took a recess of 
three days, so they could celebrate the 
Fourth of July if they wished. It cannot 
have been a very festive celebration for 
Washington, if we may judge from his 
diary, for he gave a sitting to an artist, 
went to see some " anatomical figures," 
attended a meeting of an agricultural so- 
ciety, heard a law student deliver an ora- 
tion on the "Anniversary of Independ- 
ence," and dined with the Cincinnati. 

The committee on the compromise had 
rather a stormy time, but they finally 
came to an agreement to bring in a report 
in its favor. After all their struggles, they 
must have felt discouraged when they 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 83 

came to present their report to the con- 
vention, for a whole crop of new argu- 
ments had come to life, and eleven full 
days of talk passed before that compro- 
mise really came to a vote and was passed. 
Even then, it was somewhat different in 
form from the one originally presented. 
It now stood that the Senate should con- 
sist of two members from every State, 
elected by the legislature of the State ; and 
that the House of Representatives should 
consist of one member for every 30,000 of 
the population. " In the course of one 
hundred and fifty years, one for every 
30,000 will make a House rather unman- 
ageably large," some one remarked. One 
or two disrespectfully smiled at the idea 
that any system of government which they 
could work out would last so long; but it 
has already lasted nearly that length of 
time. Our present House consists of one 
member for every 211,877 persons. If 
the original ratio of one for every 30,000 
had been continued, our Capitol would 



84 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

have to be enlarged, for seats would have 
to be provided for about 3,700 members. 

This is the lengthy story of the making 
of one of the three great compromises of 
the Constitution. It had taken a full 
month's discussion to come to a settle- 
ment ; but this settlement was a real stroke 
of policy. " Give New Jersey an equal 
vote, and she will dismiss her scruples," 
turned out to be an excellent prophecy. 
New Jersey and the other small States 
were made sure of their equal vote in the 
Senate, and now they were willing that 
Congress should have all the power that 
any one might choose to give it. 

The second compromise was also on the 
question of representation. Should slaves 
be counted as persons or as property? 
The North declared that in the South they 
were considered property, and that they 
should therefore be taxed as property and 
not counted as persons. The South ad- 
mitted that they were property, but de- 
clared that they were also persons. 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 85 

Counting them as property would in- 
crease the taxes of the Southern States; 
counting them as persons would increase 
the number of Southern representatives in 
Congress. 

Another question was closely connected 
with this: How shall the States be taxed? 
There was a long discussion, and at length 
it was agreed that it should be according 
to population. This did not help so very 
much, for it brought them back to the first 
question, namely, whether slaves should be 
counted as persons in computing the State 
tax. The North said yes ; the South said 
no. Should they be counted in deciding 
upon the number of representatives for a 
State? The North said no; the South 
said yes. This began to seem like another 
deadlock, but each side yielded. The 
North agreed that slaves should be 
counted in settling the number of repre- 
sentatives and the South agreed that they 
should be counted in computing the State 
tax. Both agreed that not all the slaves, 



86 STOEY OF OUK CONSTITUTION 

but only three-fifths of their number 
should be counted. 

According to this arrangement, five 
men in Massachusetts counted as five in 
apportioning representation in the House 
of Representatives. If those five men 
moved to South Carolina and each bought 
a slave, they would count as eight. In 
South Carolina it was not long before 
there were more slaves than free men, and 
although the slaves were not " repre- 
sented " in any way, they were counted 
in the representation for the white men. 
This was why the Southern States had so 
much power in Congress. The war had 
been fought to uphold the principle that 
all citizens should count equally in repre- 
sentation, and this compromise was di- 
rectly against it. Nevertheless, if it had 
not been agreed to, the Constitution would 
probably not have been formed; anarchy 
would have prevailed; and it is quite pos- 
sible that the country would have been di- 
vided and that perhaps part or all of it 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 87 

would have fallen into the hands of some 
foreign power. Compromises are never 
absolutely fair to either side, but they 
sometimes seem necessary in order to 
avoid worse things. 

The third compromise was on the slave 
trade. New England was determined 
that Congress should have the right to 
regulate commerce. The South was 
equally determined that it should not ; for 
the Southern States were afraid that New 
England would get control of the ocean 
freight, and that the South would then be 
at her mercy in sending rice, tobacco, and 
indigo to Europe. " Commerce " in- 
cluded the slave trade. Nearly all the 
Southern States had forbidden it, but in 
the rice swamps of Georgia and South 
Carolina slaves became rapidly exhausted. 
To carry on their most profitable business, 
these States demanded that the importa- 
tion of negroes should not be interfered 
with. One of the delegates from South 
Carolina declared that a refusal to make 



88 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

such allowance would be regarded as shut- 
ting South Carolina out of the Union. 
Another member retorted that if the two 
States intended, as they had hinted, to 
give up in a short time this importation of 
slaves, they would not be so unwilling to 
have it prohibited; and one member from 
South Carolina declared boldly that the 
Carolinas and Georgia would never be 
such fools as to give up the right to im- 
port. The result was the third compro- 
mise. To please New England, Congress 
was to have absolute control over com- 
merce. To please the South, the slave 
trade was not to be prohibited before 1808 
— for there was a general feeling that be- 
fore that date it would be given up. 

These were the three compromises that 
made the Union possible. The first con- 
ciliated the smaller States; the second 
gained the support of the slave States; 
the third put commerce into the hands of 
Congress and assured free trade among 
the States. 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 89 

The old question how the executive 
should be elected had been taken up more 
than once. It was now suggested that 
the State legislatures should choose elec- 
tors, who should go to the capital city and 
vote; but such a journey was not lightly 
to be undertaken. Some one even 
hinted that choosing electors by lot among 
the congressmen might be practicable. 
Some one else thought that one man might 
be named by each State, and from these 
thirteen either Congress or a board of 
electors might choose an executive. A 
month later, still other plans were brought 
forward. At length the present plan was 
adopted. 

Concerning the judiciary, there was lit- 
tle disagreement. No one doubted that it 
must have courts, and that the decisions of 
its courts were not to be questioned. Its 
noblest task is that of interpreting the 
Constitution. It not only interprets what 
has been written; but should a new law be 
passed, and a case involving this law be 



90 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

brought before the Supreme Court, then, 
if this Court should declare the law con- 
trary to the Constitution, it is null and 
void; the highest authority in the land has 
spoken. 

There was much yet to do. There was 
more than once a disagreement -wrlti em- 
phatic opinions expressed on both sides; 
but the foundations had been laid, and the 
rest followed. Four months after the day 
in May when the convention first met the 
last session was held. A draft of the Con- 
stitution was signed by all but three of 
those present. 

The chair in which Washington sat at 
the meetings chanced to have painted on 
its back a half-sun, rising or setting. 
Franklin said, " While I have been sitting 
here, I have often looked at that without 
being able to tell whether it was rising or 
setting; but now at length I have the hap- 
piness to know that it is a rising and not a 
setting sun." 

Save for a ten-days' adjournment the 



THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED 91 

convention had been in session five, six, 
even seven hours a clay through the four 
months of summer in a torrid city. The 
work was now completed. After dining 
at the City Tavern, the delegates said a 
cordial farewell to one another, and made 
ready to start for their homes. Washing- 
ton wrote in his diary that he returned to 
his lodgings " and retired to meditate on 
the momentous work which had been exe- 
cuted." " I wish the Constitution had 
been more nearly perfect," he wrote to 
Patrick Henry, " but I sincerely believe 
it is the best that could be obtained at this 
time." 



CHAPTER VI 

WILL THE STATES RATIFY? 

After the Constitution had been the 
law of the land for a century, Gladstone 
said that it was " the most wonderful work 
ever struck off at a given time by the brain 
and purpose of man." Nevertheless, it 
was not altogether easy to get this " won- 
derful work " adopted in the first place. 
Nine States must accept it before it would 
become law, and with some of them the 
acceptance was decidedly slow. 

Whatever Benjamin Franklin had to 
do was always done promptly, and even if 
he was eighty-one years old, he was up 
early on the day following the close of the 
convention, and at eleven o'clock he with 
his seven colleagues marched straight to 
the hall in which the Pennsylvania legisla- 
ture was assembled, made a little speech 

expressing his pleasure, and presented a 
92 



WILL THE STATES EATIFY? 93 

copy of the important paper. It had a 
warm reception, for no other State was 
more indignant than Pennsylvania at the 
lawlessness that prevailed. On the morn- 
ing of the 28th of September it was moved 
that a State convention be called to con- 
sider the ratification of the Constitution. 

This motion stole the powder of the 
Anti-Federalists, or Antis, as those were 
called who opposed the Constitution. 
The assembly was to adjourn on the 29th, 
and they had never supposed that so near 
its adjournment it would call a State con- 
vention. They had it nicely planned to 
secure a majority if possible before the 
assembly met again, and so prevent the 
Constitution from being laid before the 
people at all. 'They declared that until 
Congress sent the paper, it was highly im- 
proper to admit any knowledge of it; and 
in any case, notice should have been given 
beforehand, they insisted. Nevertheless, 
the vote was taken. Forty-three were in 
favor of the convention; the nineteen 



94 STORY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

Antis were against it. That afternoon, 
when the assembly came together, the 
nineteen were missing. The sergeant-at- 
arms went in search of them, but they re- 
fused to come. There was no quorum, so 
the assembly had to adjourn. 

Then the City of Brotherly Love was 
wrathful. To form a quorum only two 
more were needed, and on the following 
morning crowds burst open the doors of 
two of the runaways, dragged them to 
their seats in the State House, and held 
them there while business went on. The 
30th of November was chosen as the day 
for the State convention. 

Now everybody began to write letters 
to the newspapers, and everybody made 
speeches. Some objected because the 
Constitution did not contain a bill of 
rights. To this James Wilson, delegate 
from Pennsylvania to the constitutional 
convention and now its earnest defender, 
replied that in England such a bill was 
necessary, because the king was regarded 



WILL THE STATES EATIFY? 95 

as the source of power, and all rights must 
come from him; but that in the United 
States all power came from the people, 
and any power which they did not defi- 
nitely give to the general government re- 
mained in their own hands. The pream- 
ble to the Constitution begins, " We the 
people of the United States do establish," 
" and this is in itself a bill of rights," he 
declared. Some one brought up the criti- 
cism of six months earlier, that the dele- 
gates had gone beyond their authority in 
making a constitution at all. Wilson re- 
plied that they claimed no authority, that 
they had framed a constitution which they 
thought good for the country, and it was 
now laid before the States for them to 
ratify or reject, as they might choose. 

Not all the Antis presented reasons. 
Many were satisfied to produce silly dog- 
gerel, many mistook ridicule for reason. 
When the Federalists demanded whether 
their opponents had no respect for the 
work of Washington and Franklin, they 



96 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

retorted flippantly that Franklin was a 
childish old man, that Washington was a 
soldier, but not a politician; and that the 
rest of them were mere boys. One went 
so far as to call Washington a fool from 
nature and Franklin a fool from age. 
There was occasionally a touch of wit, but 
there was a constant stream of what no 
one but its originators would have ever 
dreamed to be wit. 

In the midst of this contention, news 
arrived one morning that little Delaware, 
the smallest of the States represented at 
the convention, had " fully, freely, and 
entirely approved of, assented to, ratified, 
and confirmed the federal Constitution," 
and had done it unanimously, too! Evi- 
dently there was no mistaking what Dela- 
ware's opinions were. 

The Philadelphia Federalists were de- 
lighted. Thus far, the Antis had done 
everything in their power to block any ac- 
tion by the convention. They had talked 
five, seven, nine hours on a stretch — the 



WILL THE STATES EATIFY? 97 

State paying them a salary for the time 
that they wasted ; they had spent day after 
day disputing about the meaning of com- 
mon words, until some of the thrifty 
Pennsylvanians had begun to wonder how 
the bill would ever be paid if they kept on. 
A great deal of Anti propaganda had 
been carried on in the western part of the 
State. The people beyond the Susque- 
hanna were assured that Congress would 
increase the taxes; that, as members were 
to be paid from the Federal treasury, they 
would be independent of their own States; 
and that therefore the State was to lose 
all power. From these people a petition 
was brought in demanding all sorts of 
" rights " which belonged to them in any 
case. Pennsylvania had lost her chance 
to be in the lead, but six days after the 
Delaware ratification she became, by a 
vote of forty-six to twenty-three, the sec- 
ond in the procession of States. Twenty- 
one of the twenty-three prepared an ad- 
dress to the effect that Congress would 



98 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

promptly become a despotism, and that 
the country was altogether too large for a 
centralized government. 

Not one bit did the Federalists care for 
this. They were not at all afraid of Con- 
gress, and the thought of a large country 
did not alarm them in the least. On the 
next day there was a grand procession to 
the Court House, and there the ratifica- 
tion was formally read aloud. The bells 
of Christ Church rang merrily — almost of 
their own accord — a Federal salute of 
thirteen guns was fired, and the members 
of the State convention had a fine dinner 
together. It is not stated whether the 
minority were present or not, or whether 
the feast disagreed with them if they were. 

On the very day before the Pennsylva- 
nia ratification, the New Jersey conven- 
tion met in Trenton. Slowly the pro- 
posed constitution was read, section by 
section, with an opportunity to discuss 
each one. Nothing was done hastily. 
For a week they debated and deliberated; 



WILL THE STATES RATIFY? 99 

then, "by the unanimous consent of the 
members present, agreed to, ratified, and 
confirmed the proposed Constitution and 
every part thereof." This was as clear 
and determined, even if not quite so jubi- 
lant, as the ratification of little Delaware, 
and the emphatic envoi, " and every part 
thereof," must have cast a gloom over the 
Antis. Indeed, in western Pennsylvania 
it was a question whether the people would 
not take up arms and rebel. The Feder- 
alists were carrying on a mild celebration 
of bonfire and salute, when down upon 
them came a wild mob of Antis. These 
new arrivals did no worse than to spike the 
saucy Federalist cannon and burn the new 
almanac for 1788, which had audaciously 
ventured to print the proposed Constitu- 
tion on its revered pages. The Federal- 
ists meant to have their celebration, and so 
they and some muskets tried again — suc- 
cessfully. Then the Antis burned Wilson 
and his colleague, Judge McKean, in 
effigy; which did not injure the two men 



100 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

and possibly did somewhat to soothe the 
Anti-Federalistic feelings. 

The Antis had lost the central States, 
but the Southern States and New England 
remained, and it seemed quite possible 
that even the compromises might not pre- 
vent these States from slipping through 
the fingers of the Federalists. But alas 
for the hopes of the Antis ! Georgia had 
her two votes in the Senate just the same 
as Pennsylvania. She had a very small 
population as yet, but her soil was rich, 
and she expected to have before long a 
population that would greatly increase 
her number of representatives in the lower 
house. As it was, the compromise had 
given her the right to a larger representa- 
tion than her number of free men entitled 
her to have, and Georgia saw no reason 
why she should not be satisfied. More- 
over, much of her area was forest, and in 
this forest were hostile Indians. Spain 
held the land to her south, extending from 
the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. 



WILL THE STATES EATIFY? 101 

Who could say when she might need help 
against one or the other of these foes? 
She would have been foolish indeed to toss 
aside the one friend whom she could so 
easily and advantageously bind to give her 
assistance in time of need. Georgia called 
her convention for Christmas Day. One 
week later, she unanimously ratified the 
Constitution. As the last name was 
signed, a salute of thirteen guns was fired. 
So Georgia signified her faith in the 
Union. 

Before the Constitution could become 
the law of the land it must be accepted, as 
has been said, by nine of the thirteen 
States; but the Antis were especially 
strong in New England, and if it should 
be rejected by the four New England 
States and one more, it would fail. With 
the confusion following such a failure, the 
condition of the country would be worse 
than ever. It is no wonder that both 
parties kept close watch of New England. 

Connecticut's convention met on the 



102 STOEY OF OUK CONSTITUTION 

last day of the year. It had a dignified 
membership, for it was made up of gov- 
ernment officials, judges, clergymen, and 
some sixty veterans of the war. One sec- 
tion of the Constitution was read and de- 
bated upon, then another, and so on; but 
no vote was taken until the whole had been 
discussed. Connecticut men who had 
helped to make the Constitution were 
present to explain it; and as the discussion 
proceeded, one of them said gravely, " If 
we reject it, our national existence must 
come to an end." One of the veteran of- 
ficers objected to having duties on im- 
ports, because he thought this would favor 
the Southern States; but a delegate re- 
plied that Connecticut was a manufactur- 
ing State, that the manufacturers were 
rapidly increasing, and that such a law 
would be of great benefit. The veteran 
objected that a central government ought 
not to have both sword and purse; it 
would become a despotism. The delegate 
replied that the government must have 



WILL THE STATES EATIFY? 103 

revenues, and it must have power to de- 
fend the country, that there could be no 
true government without sword and 
purse. When the vote was taken, the 
Federalists were delighted, for it stood 
three to one in favor of the ratification. 

Now came the tug of war. Massachu- 
setts was in population the fourth State; 
only Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North 
Carolina contained more inhabitants. 
Her vote would strongly influence that of 
New Hampshire and Rhode Island. In- 
deed, when her convention met, promi- 
nent men from both States went to Bos- 
ton to watch proceedings, and they said 
confidently that as went Massachusetts, so 
their States would go. Madison, the 
" Father of the Constitution," declared 
that the decision of Massachusetts would 
involve that of New York; and that if 
Massachusetts should reject the Constitu- 
tion, the minority in Pennsylvania would 
be aroused and would make a stubborn re- 
sistance. 



104 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

It did not look as if there was much 
hope that Massachusetts would ratify. 
Several of the most prominent men were 
believed to object. Shays's Rebellion had 
indeed been suppressed, but many of his 
supporters had not changed their minds, 
even though they had been forced to 
yield. The farmers had been hoping for 
laws that would release them in whole or 
in part from their contracts; and this new 
Constitution would have nothing of the 
sort. The land that is now Maine was 
then a part of Massachusetts, and its peo- 
ple were eager to cut loose and have a 
State of their own. The Constitution 
would tend, they thought, to bind them 
more closely. Massachusetts as a whole 
never did like interference with her affairs. 
She was accustomed to attending to her 
own business on her own ground. She 
liked a town meeting and not a long-dis- 
tance govbrnment. It is no wonder that 
the Antis looked upon Massachusetts as a 
most hopeful State. 



WILL THE STATES RATIFY? 105 

The Federalists had their fears, to be 
sure, but they also had their hopes. Com- 
merce was an important matter in Massa- 
chusetts, and it would be much to the ad- 
vantage of commerce to have a govern- 
ment strong enough to make commercial 
treaties with European nations. There- 
fore, workmen, business men, and the peo- 
ple of the cities generally favored the Con- 
stitution. 

The convention met, and a good repre- 
sentation of Massachusetts it was. There 
were clergymen, lawyers, veterans of the 
war, scholars, substantial farmers, and 
some of Shays's followers. There was op- 
portunity for everybody to speak, and 
everybody was listened to. Many of the 
delegates were terribly afraid of this un- 
familiar government which had been pro- 
posed to them. No one knew what it 
might do, or whether it would be wise to 
trust it with power. It might turn upon 
them and crush them; who could say? 

" But our State legislatures have 



106 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

power," said a New Bedford clergyman 
quietly. " What hinders them from abus- 
ing it? Will not the men whom we choose 
be in general good men? " 

" I would not trust them," declared 
one, " though every one of them should be 
a Moses." 

One great difficulty was that many of 
the country people were afraid that the 
wealthy men and the lawyers were schem- 
ing to get in some way the better of them. 
The best speech on that point was made 
by a level-headed farmer from the Berk- 
shires. He had obtained a copy of the 
Constitution, and he had read it and 
studied it by himself. Now he slowly rose 
to his feet. " I am not used to speak in 
public," he said. ..." I never had 
any post, nor do I want one. But I don't 
think the worse of the Constitution, be- 
cause lawyers and men of learning, and 
moneyed men are fond of it. . . . 
Brother farmers, let us suppose a case 
now. Suppose you had a farm of fifty 



WILL THE STATES KATIFY? 107 

acres, and your title was disputed, and 
there was a farm of 5,000 acres joined to 
yours that belonged to a man of learning, 
and his title was involved in the same diffi- 
culty : would you not be glad to have him 
for your friend, rather than to stand alone 
in the dispute? Well, the case is the same. 
These lawyers, these moneyed men, these 
men of learning, are all embarked in the 
same cause with us, and we must sink or 
swim together. Shall we throw the Con- 
stitution overboard because it does not 
please us all alike? Suppose two or three 
of you had been at the pains to break up a 
piece of rough land and sow it with wheat: 
would you let it lie waste because you could 
not agree what sort of a fence to make? 
Would it not be better to put up a fence 
that did not please everybody than keep 
disputing about it until the wild beasts 
came in and devoured the crop? " 

This sensible, reasonable speech con- 
tained the real gist of the matter, and had 
a strong influence ; but there was one man 



108 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

for whom everybody was waiting, Samuel 
Adams, the " Father of the Revolution." 
Every one trusted him. He would be 
wise, and he would be faithful to whatever 
he thought best for the country. Day by 
day he had listened, but as yet he had not 
spoken. It was believed that he was not 
fully in sympathy with the Constitution; 
but could he not be brought over to the 
Federal side? There was one argument 
that would be sure to influence him, 
namely, what the masses of the people 
thought, for he had a strong confidence in 
the common sense of the " plain man." 
The people knew this well, and the me- 
chanics of Boston determined to take the 
matter into their own hands. They met 
at the Green Dragon Tavern, passed reso- 
lutions in favor of the Constitution, and 
then sent a committee to present them to 
Adams. Their leader was Paul Revere. 

" How many mechanics were at the 
Green Dragon when these resolutions 
passed? " Adams questioned. 



WILL THE STATES EATIFY? 109 

" More, sir, than the Green Dragon 
could hold." 

"And where were the rest, Mr. Re- 
vere? " 

" In the streets, sir." 

" And how many were in the streets? " 

" More, sir, than there are stars in the 
sky." 

Samuel Adams was perhaps a little shy 
of the reasonings of the lawyers, but he 
trusted the people. He became a sup- 
porter of the Constitution. 

Gradually the strongest objections 
came to the front. Like the people of 
Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts folk did 
not feel safe without the familiar bill of 
rights. They wanted to be definitely as- 
sured that there would be no interference 
with their religious belief, that they might 
send petitions to government if they 
wished, that they might be sure not to 
have soldiers quartered upon them in time 
of peace, and that they might be safe from 
general search warrants. In short, they 



110 STORY OP OUR CONSTITUTION 

seemed to forget that they had advanced 
from colonial times and had cut loose from 
a royal government. It was suggested 
that while the Constitution must be ac- 
cepted as a whole, these points might be 
proposed as amendments. President 
John Hancock brought this before the 
convention. Samuel Adams upheld it. 
The result of the vote was that on Febru- 
ary 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the 
sixth State to ratify the Constitution. 

The crowds in the streets shouted with 
delight. The national salute was fired 
over and over again. Bells rang, bonfires 
burned all night long. " The Boston 
people have lost their senses with joy," 
wrote General Knox. There is a street 
in Boston known as Federal Street. It 
used to be called Long Lane, but it ran by 
the meeting-house where the convention 
met, and from that day to this it has been 
Federal Street. 



CHAPTER VII 



COMING " UNDER THE ROOF " 



New Hampshire's convention met 
about the time that the Massachusetts 
convention adjourned. The Federalists 
had not felt at all troubled about New 
Hampshire, for it was expected that she 
would follow the lead of Massachusetts. 
It was not a pleasant surprise to find that 
New Hampshire was not at all decided 
what to do. Some of her delegates 
thought that the Constitution permitted 
too much freedom in religious matters. 
Some spoke strongly against permitting 
the slave trade to go on until 1808. New 
Hampshire ought not to become its guar- 
antor for even a few years, they declared. 

Most cities in New Hampshire favored 

the Constitution, but the delegates from 

the country places had received their or- 
111 



112 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ders to vote against it. Even if they 
themselves were converted by arguments 
heard at the convention, they were bound 
to oppose. For the Federalists to call for 
a vote then would have been throwing 
away all chance of success. It would be 
better to let these men go home for a time ; 
perhaps they would succeed in converting 
their neighbors, and a later vote might be 
favorable. New Hampshire was a small 
State, and the Antis were easily convinced 
that it might be to her advantage to wait a 
little and see how the other States went. 
Therefore the convention was adjourned 
to meet in June. It looks a little as if 
there might have been a compromise be- 
tween Federalists and Antis, for, while 
this convention was to meet in Exe- 
ter, where the general feeling was Fed- 
eral, the June convention was to meet in 
Concord, which was decidedly Anti-Fed- 
eral. 

The Antis were jubilant. They hoped 
that when June came, they would be able 



COMING "UNDER THE KOOF" 113 

to hold New Hampshire. Meanwhile, 
they strained every nerve to win Mary- 
land. Her convention had met three 
months earlier, but a decision had been 
postponed until a second meeting, to be 
held at the end of April. How she would 
be affected by New Hampshire's failure 
to take action was a question. The Fed- 
eralists lay awake nights when they 
thought of that. 

When the Maryland delegates came to- 
gether they had done their thinking be- 
forehand, and their minds were pretty 
well made up. Neither the eloquence of 
men of ability nor the influence of State 
favorites moved them. The Antis said it 
was a most important matter, and should 
not be decided too rashly. There was no 
need of haste ; it would be wiser to wait a 
little until some of the larger States had 
come to a decision. As in Pennsylvania, 
these Antis filled up the hours in every 
way that they could. They knew that the 
delegates were eager to go home to their 



114 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

plantations and their spring work; so they 
planned to delay till the members were 
out of patience and ready to agree to any- 
thing to get away, and then a motion to 
adjourn could be carried and the question 
left undecided. 

This was the only danger, but it had 
been looked out for in advance. Wash- 
ington was intensely interested in the rati- 
fication of the Constitution. " I never 
saw him so keen for anything in my life 
as he is for the adoption of the new scheme 
of government," said one who visited him; 
and just before the convention he had 
written to a friend who was a member, 
saying that an adjournment would 
amount to the same as a rejection of the 
Constitution. Madison had written to 
the same effect. There was no adjourn- 
ment, and when the question was put, 
Maryland, by a vote of nearly six to one, 
became the seventh State to ratify. 

Two weeks later, South Carolina must 
make her decision. Her real struggle 



COMING "UNDER THE ROOF" 115 

had come in the legislature when the con- 
vention was appointed. She had several 
very definite fears. One was lest this 
powerful new Congress should interfere 
with slavery. Another was lest naviga- 
tion acts should interfere with her trade. 
Some parts of the State still longed for 
paper money; and the new Constitution 
would give no permission for any such 
thing. 

When the convention met, one of the 
Antis spoke of the Articles in terms of the 
highest praise, and called them " a bless- 
ing from Heaven ! " The slave trade he 
called a religious and humane occupation, 
and demanded to know why it should be 
limited to twenty years. 

Cotesworth Pinckney, who at the con- 
stitutional convention had stood firm for 
the claims of South Carolina, replied that 
during those twenty years they could im- 
port as many slaves as they wished. The 
government could never set them free, he 
declared, and to whatever part of the 



116 STOEY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

country they might escape, the legal right 
to recover them had been won, a right not 
possessed before. In regard to naviga- 
tion acts and the fear lest the Eastern 
States should get all the carrying trade 
into their hands, and make ruinous charges 
for their services, Pinckney replied that 
the East had the ships, and would cer- 
tainly prefer to use them rather than see 
them lying idle at the wharves. The 
South would furnish freight, and the East 
would furnish vessels. They needed each 
other, and the two would now be more 
united than ever before. South Carolina 
cannot stand alone, he said; she must make 
friends with the stronger States at the 
east. The old objection was then brought 
up, namely, that the Constitution con- 
tained no bill of rights. Pinckney re- 
plied, " By delegating express powers, we 
certainly reserve to ourselves every power 
and right not mentioned in the Constitu- 
tion. . . . Bills of rights generally 
begin with declaring that all men are by 



COMING "UNDEK THE KOOF" 117 

nature born free. Now, we should make 
that declaration with a very bad grace 
when a large part of our property consists 
in men who are actually born slaves." 

A day was set for the convention. Both 
Charleston and Columbia wanted it, but 
Charleston won by a single vote. South 
Carolina had chosen her delegates from 
among her noblest citizens. The vote was 
two to one in favor of the Constitution. 
Sturdy Christopher Gadsden, patriot 
tried and true, said reverently, " I shall 
say with good old Simeon, ' Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 
according to thy word,' for mine eyes have 
seen the salvation of my country." 

But what about New Hampshire and 
her long-delayed convention? Eight 
States had already ratified, and New 
Hampshire was now fired with ambition 
to be the ninth. June 21st, she gave her 
vote in favor of ratification. Her con- 
vention was careful to write in its record 
that this was done " on Saturday, June 



118 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

21, at 1 p. m.," for if Virginia's vote 
should chance to be at two o'clock, they 
did not mean to lose their honors. Riders 
were sent off post haste to carry the news 
to Pennsylvania and Virginia; but travel 
was slow, and from New Hampshire to 
Virginia is a long way. Even before the 
riders reached Alexandria, they heard the 
ringing of bells and found themselves in 
the midst of a joyful celebration. Vir- 
ginia, too, had voted to ratify. 

This ratification had not been carried 
through in Virginia without a severe 
struggle. For one thing, her people had 
never forgotten or forgiven that a year or 
two earlier New England for her own ad- 
vantage had been more than willing to 
close the mouth of the Mississippi to Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee, if she could only get 
a commercial treaty with Spain. Now 
Kentucky was in some degree a district or 
colony of Virginia, and therefore Virginia 
felt this a personal grievance, and had no 
idea of allowing New England a free 



COMING "UNDER THE ROOF" 119 

hand in the government. Indeed, many a 
Virginian had dreamed about a union of 
the South, a confederacy that should be in 
no way subject to the aims of the Eastern 
States ; but this had become impossible 
now that Georgia and South Carolina had 
accepted the new government. 

Virginia had nearly as many inhabi- 
tants as New York and Pennsylvania to- 
gether. It was the oldest of the colonies 
and the home of Washington. "The 
other States cannot do without Virginia, 
and we can dictate to them what terms we 
please," Patrick Henry declared. On the 
other hand, Virginia could not do without 
the other States, and Madison, John Mar- 
shall, who afterwards became chief justice 
of the Supreme Court, and Governor 
Randolph stood firmly for ratification. 
Patrick Henry opposed with all the 
might of his fiery eloquence. Fortunately 
for the Virginia Federalists, he was not a 
statesman, however brilliant he was as an 
orator; and the convention was not the 



120 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

place for oratory. It was the place for 
keen, logical, persuasive reasoning, arid 
quiet, sensible decisions. " What Vir- 
ginia does, that New Hampshire will do," 
was the feeling in Virginia; but New 
Hampshire's post riders had been on the 
way four days when Virginia put the 
question in her convention. The vote was 
close, eighty-nine to seventy-nine, but it 
was in favor of the Constitution. Vir- 
ginia had come " under the roof," as peo- 
ple said then. 

Nine days later came Independence 
Day, and never was there such a merry, 
jubilant, hopeful time as on July 4, 1788. 
In Philadelphia there was a procession 
such as America had never seen before. 
Pioneers with their axes and a car called 
the Constitution, in the form of a great 
eagle, began the line. In this car sat 
Judge McKean, who had worked so hard 
for the Constitution, and ten men fol- 
lowed, each with a silken flag bearing the 
name of a State. There were consuls of 



COMING "UNDER THE ROOF" 121 

foreign states, each carrying his national 
flag; a prominent citizen dressed as an 
Indian sachem, and smoking the pipe of 
peace ; a troop of dragoons ; and then came 
what was called " a most splendid spec- 
tacle." It was a dome upheld by thirteen 
columns, three of them unfinished. On 
the pedestal of each column appeared the 
name of one of the States, and above the 
dome rose a cupola bearing the figure of 
Plenty. Around the pedestal of the 
whole structure were the words, "In union 
the fabric stands firm." This was drawn 
by ten white horses. It was followed by 
architects, carpenters, officers of the Cin- 
cinnati, the militia, members of the Agri- 
cultural Society, farmers with ploughs 
drawn by four stalwart oxen, and mem- 
bers of the Manufacturing Society with 
spinning and carding machines, looms, 
etc., in a wagon, or "" float," drawn by ten 
bay horses. The weavers were at work, 
and the process of printing cotton cloth 
was going on. After the Marine Society 



122 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

with flag, trumpets, and spy-glasses, came 
another float on which was the " Federal 
Ship Union" a beautiful little vessel thir- 
ty-three feet long, which had been cap- 
tured by Paul Jones as the barge of the 
Serapis. As their course was changed 
from time to time, her crew of twenty-five 
men trimmed the sails to the wind. This 
was drawn by horses — there were no elec- 
tric motors in those days — but under the 
vessel was canvas painted to represent 
the waves of the sea, and this hid the 
wheels. Then followed boat-builders, sail- 
makers, ship carpenters, all with silken 
flags, then rope-makers, merchants, one 
with a ledger in his hands, shoemakers, 
gilders, coachmakers, potters, wheel- 
wrights, all with shops wherein men were 
working at their different trades. The 
blacksmiths were making ploughshares 
out of old swords ; the printers had a press 
and printed as they went along a song said 
to have been written by Franklin, which 
begins: 



COMING "UNDER THE KOOF" 123 

" Ye merry Mechanics , come join in my song, 
And let the brisk chorus go bounding along ; 
Though some may be poor, and some rich 

there may be, 
Yet all are contented, and happy, and free." 

There can hardly be much doubt that 
Franklin was really the writer of the song, 
for it sounds so much like him, especially 
the lines: 

" And Carders, and Spinners, and Weavers at- 
tend, 

And take the advice of Poor Richard, your 
friend ; 

Stick close to your looms, your wheels, and 
your card, 

And you need never fear of the times being 
hard." 

The printers tossed handfuls of this song 
fresh from the press to the crowds as they 
went along. 

About 5,000 men were in this " Federal 
Procession." Three hours after the start 
they were on the lawn of Bush Hill, where 
Hamilton lived. Round tables were ar- 



124 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ranged in a circle some five hundred feet 
in diameter, and in the center of the, cir- 
cle was the " Grand Federal Edifice." 
James Wilson delivered an oration, and 
then came the feast. Casks of porter, 
beer, and cider lined the inner circle of the 
tables; and they certainly flowed freely, 
for ten toasts were drunk in honor of the 
ten States that had ratified. At each toast 
a cannon was fired; and from the ship 
Rising Sun, lying with ten others in the 
Delaware, a second cannon was fired in 
response. In the evening the ships were 
" highly illuminated." " I did not see the 
spectacle," said a Philadelphian regret- 
fully, " but it was the talk of my youthful 
days for years after the event." 

To prepare for this elaborate celebra- 
tion, Philadelphia had just four days! 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE BEGINNING OF THE GOVERNMENT 

It was not all smooth sailing, even in 
the celebrations. The Federalists in 
Providence did not wait for their State's 
decision, but were beginning a jubilation 
with a barbecue of roasted oxen, when 
down upon them came a mob of lovers of 
paper money, led by three members of the 
State legislature. In Albany, the Feder- 
alists rang the bells and fired ten guns. 
The Antis retorted with thirteen guns and 
burned a copy of the Constitution. They 
then went to one hotel for dinner, and the 
Federalists went to another. After din- 
ner the Federalists cut down a tree in the 
woods, trimmed off the branches, nailed 
another copy of the Constitution to the 
top, and planted it in the warm ashes of 

the Anti-Federal fires. So far, the pro- 
125 



126 STOEY OF OUE CONSTITUTION 

ceedings hurt no one, but the Antis now 
set off with all the stones they could carry,; 
and went in pursuit of the Federalists. 
Then came a real fight, in which the Fed- 
eralists were the victors. 

What was to be done about New York 
was a question, and an important one. 
The State stood fifth in number of in- 
habitants, but her location made her im- 
portant, for she not only touched the 
ocean, but by means of her rivers she 
could easily have excellent communication 
with the Great Lakes and the West. She 
had a large commerce with New Jersey 
and the Eastern States on her own bor- 
ders. Goods coming in from other States 
had to pay a five-per-cent. duty, and New 
York had no idea of giving this up to Con- 
gress for the sake of free trade with every 
State that might wish to sell her things. 
On the other hand, she had no desire to 
stand entirely alone, and have to provide 
her own navy, forts, and representatives 
abroad. Perhaps New York, Virginia, 



BEGINNING OF THE GOVEKNMENT 127 

and North Carolina could unite, she 
thought, but the news came that Virginia 
had come " under the roof." This was a 
blow to the New York Antis. After con- 
siderable delay, they made an offer which 
many people thought the Federalists 
ought to accept. They said they would 
agree to ratify the Constitution provided 
some amendments that they desired might 
be made a part of it ; and they wanted the 
right to withdraw from the Union if they 
chose. 

Hamilton and Madison consulted. 
Madison declared that after a State had 
once ratified the Constitution, it had no 
right to withdraw from the Union. They 
agreed that a conditional ratification was 
no ratification at all. At length it was 
moved that New York should ratify the 
Constitution, as Massachusetts had done, 
" in full confidence " that needed amend- 
ments would be made. This confidence 
was not so " full," however, that the Antis 
did not think it necessary to insist upon 



128 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

an agreement that all States should be in- 
vited by a circular letter to an immediate 
convention for taking up all proposed 
amendments. Even then, the motion to 
ratify was barely carried, for the vote was 
only thirty to twenty-seven in favor. At 
the New York celebration, the " Ship of 
State" that was drawn through the 
streets was named Hamilton. The honor 
was well deserved, for the fact that New 
York ratified at all was due in great part 
to this young man whom that State had 
sent to the constitutional convention in 
Philadelphia expressly to be beaten by his 
two colleagues. He had been in a most 
helpless and embarrassing position; but 
now he had come to his own. 

Hamilton was born in Nevis, one of the 
British West Indies, came to New York 
and entered Columbia [then King's] Col- 
lege. He was only seventeen when he 
spoke at a great mass meeting in New 
York City in favor of resistance to Great 
Britain, and wrote two powerful pam- 







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BEGINNING OF THE GOVERNMENT 129 

phlets on the same subject. In the Revo- 
lution he had been on Washington's staff; 
then he became a lawyer, and at thirty 
was sent as a delegate to the constitutional 
convention with the two older men of op- 
posing views. He was now free from all 
such embarrassment, and he became the 
leader of the Federalists in the State con- 
vention. 

Although Hamilton had signed the 
Constitution, he had not been wildly en- 
thusiastic about it ; but now he became its 
most earnest advocate. To whatever was 
said in opposition, he had always an an- 
swer ready. His most telling work, how- 
ever, was done in the newspapers. Of 
course the papers were full of attacks 
upon the proposed constitution, some of 
them honest and decent, others scurrilous. 
It was by one writer declared to be " as 
deep and wicked a conspiracy as ever was 
invented in the darkest ages against the 
liberties of a free people." 

Hamilton had no idea of replying to 



130 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

such writings as these, but he did believe 
that there were in the land thousands of 
honest, straightforward Americans who 
were not accustomed to the terms of docu- 
ments and conventions and who would 
therefore be easily influenced by these 
plausible slanderers. To reach these peo- 
ple he planned a series of articles explain- 
ing in simple language the meaning of the 
Constitution, part by part. Madison and 
Jay united in this work, but Jay was taken 
ill, Madison was occupied in Virginia, and 
the result was that Hamilton wrote nearly 
two-thirds of the articles. He wrote sim- 
ply and clearly, but with dignity and elo- 
quence; and he made an irresistible ap- 
peal to just the class whom he wished to 
reach, the quiet thinkers of the day. 
These papers had a powerful influence 
throughout the States, but greatest in 
New York — where they were most 
needed. They came out three or four 
times a week. They were written for a 
definite purpose, and probably Hamilton 



BEGINNING OF THE GOVEKNMENT 131 

never dreamed of their being handed 
down through the generations ; but it was 
gradually discovered that the Federalist, 
as the collected papers were called, was 
the clearest and best and most authori- 
tative interpreter of the Constitution. 

Neither North Carolina nor Rhode 
Island was " under the roof." North 
Carolina had indeed called her convention 
to meet in July. The members were dis- 
cussing the Constitution when news came 
that Virginia, New Hampshire, and New 
York had ratified it. Now they were in a 
dilemma. Those whom they represented 
had bidden them vote against it, and they 
hardly ventured to act contrary to their 
instructions. On the other hand, this 
news put matters in a different light, for 
North Carolina did not care to stand as 
the only State between Rhode Island and 
Florida not belonging to the Union. 
While they were trying to find a way out 
of their dilemma, news came of the con- 
vention proposed by New York. That 



132 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

gave them an idea; they would send a list 
of the amendments which they desired to 
this new convention, to be acted upon, and 
meanwhile they would adjourn. They 
made it clear that they had no intention 
of opposing Congress, for they voted that 
whatever duties Congress might ordain 
should be collected in North Carolina by 
the State " for the use of Congress." 
November 21, 1789, North Carolina gave 
her vote in favor of ratification. Rhode 
Island clung to her paper money and did 
not ratify until May 29, 1790. 

The new government set to work 
promptly. A day was appointed to 
choose electors who should meet and vote 
for a President and Vice-President. But 
Congress had no abiding-place. It had no 
city, no capitol, not a building of any kind 
that it could call its home. This was un- 
dignified, to say the least, and must be 
remedied. In the difficulties of travel, the 
place must be central. Baltimore, Lan- 
caster, Trenton, Philadelphia, New York, 



BEGINNING OF THE GOYEKNMENT 133 

Princeton were all discussed. New York 
was the best place, but there was strong 
opposition to giving the honor to a State 
which had joined the Union almost under 
compulsion. Finally, after every other 
name had been discussed, Congress went 
back to New York, and that city was 
chosen. 

New York now began to clean house 
and get ready for company. There was 
no money in her treasury, but some of her 
wealthy merchants contributed a generous 
sum. The City Hall was practically 
made over, and when March 4, 1789, 
came, it was ready to receive Congress — 
more ready indeed than Congress was to 
be received, for of the fifty-nine members 
only twenty-one were present. One week, 
two weeks, three weeks passed. The 
Antis had a fine time making fun of the 
Congress that had forgotten to assemble. 
The congressmen who were in town sent 
messengers to the tardy members to 
hurry, and a few came straggling in, but 



134 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

March was nearly at it's end before the 
thirty necessary to a quorum had arrived. 
The ranks of the senators were still thin, 
and it was the end of the first week in 
April before they were ready to count the 
votes for President and Vice-President. 
The ballots were carried into the Senate 
Chamber and presented to the presiding 
officer, John Langdon of New Hamp- 
shire, and in the presence of the Senate 
and the House, he opened them and 
counted the vote. Washington was 
unanimously chosen President, and John 
Adams, Vice-President. 

Washington had deeply longed to 
spend his last years in quiet, but he would 
not refuse to heed the call of his country. 
He wrote that he realized keenly how lack- 
ing he was in political skill, abilities, and 
inclination to take such a position. He 
felt, he said, " like a culprit who is going 
to the place of his execution." 

Charles Thomson, who had been secre- 
tary of Congress ever since its first meet- 



BEGINNING OF THE GOYEKNMEOT 135 

ing, as the " First Continental Congress," 
in Carpenters Hall, in Philadelphia, car- 
ried Washington the letter of John Lang- 
don announcing his election. Two days 
later he set out for New York. A large 
company of his friends and neighbors at- 
tended him across the borders of Virginia. 
At each town on the way he was welcomed 
and shown every honor that his time 
would permit. 

In Philadelphia he received and an- 
swered addresses from the officers of the 
city and State government. At Trenton, 
the Jersey bank of the Delaware was 
lined with people, who greeted him with 
salutes and huzzas. It was at Trenton 
that he had captured the Hessians that 
stormy Christmas night of 1776. At the 
bridge over the creek where he had re- 
pulsed the British army, the ladies of the 
town had raised a triumphal arch sup- 
ported by thirteen columns, each wreathed 
with evergreen. On it was inscribed, 
" The Defender of the mothers will be the 



136 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

Protector of the daughters." Here stood 
a group of young girls dressed in white; 
and as he advanced they strewed flowers 
in his way and sang: 

" Virgins fair, and matrons grave, 
Those thy conquering arms did save, 
Build for thee triumphal bowers. 
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers — 
Strew your Hero's way with flowers." 

At Elizabeth Point, Washington em- 
barked in a barge built for the occasion, 
manned by thirteen sailors in white, and 
was rowed to the New York shore. Here 
were the chief officers of State and city. 
Bells were rung, flags flown, houses were 
brilliant with banners and flowers and 
evergreens, and " Washington "in letters 
of gold. The streets were crowded with 
citizens, all eager to have a look at his 
face. 

April 30th was the day set for the in- 
auguration. In the morning the churches 
were crowded with people who had gone 



BEGINNING OF THE GOYEENMENT 137 

to offer up prayers for the safety and wel- 
fare of the president of their republic. At 
noon^ a long procession formed to escort 
the chosen one of the people to Federal 
Hall. 

After meeting both Houses of Con- 
gress, he was informed that the time had 
come for the administration of the oath of 
office. Followed by senators and repre- 
sentatives, he went out upon the balcony. 
This was a kind of recess with high 
columns on either side. In the center was 
a table with crimson velvet cover, and on 
the table was a Bible resting on a crimson 
velvet cushion. Here Washington stood 
in full view of the multitude of citizens. 
He wore a dark brown suit with white silk 
stockings and silver shoe-buckles. His 
hair was powdered. By his side hung a 
dress sword. The people welcomed him 
with cheers and the waving of hats and 
handkerchiefs. He moved forward to the 
rail and bowed several times, then seated 
himself. 



138 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

The great multitude was hushed as the 
Chancellor of the State repeated slowly 
and distinctly the words of the Presi- 
dential oath: " * I do solemnly swear that 
I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States, and will 
to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, 
and defend the Constitution of the United 
States.' Do you swear this? " 

Washington stood with his hand laid on 
the open Bible and said solemnly: — " I 
swear — so help me Cod! " 

The secretary would have raised the 
Bible to his lips, but he bowed reverently 
and kissed it. As he raised his head, the 
Chancellor cried: "Long live George 
Washington, President of the United 
States!" 




Inauguration of Washington. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE STATES GUARD THEIR RIGHTS 

The United States of America had 
now a President. It had also a Constitu- 
tion — an excellent one; but no one could 
expect 4,000,000 people entirely to be sat- 
isfied with the work of any one group of 
men, no matter how wise they might be. 
Even so good a student of the needs of 
the country as Thomas Jefferson was 
alarmed because no plan had been made 
for rotation in office, and feared lest some 
President might succeed in becoming 
powerful enough to establish a hereditary 
monarchy. 

North Carolina did not come "under 

the roof" until more than six months 

after Washington's inauguration. This 

State had had rather a hard time under 

the rule of her English governors, and a 
139 



140 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

year before the Declaration of Independ- 
ence was signed, she had declared herself 
no longer under their control, and had 
begun to make her own laws. Naturally, 
her sturdy, liberty-loving people were 
suspicious of any new government and 
were slow to put themselves into its power. 
Looking ahead, however, they saw that 
they could not expect to stand alone when 
all the other States had united, and they 
had shrewdly concluded to be friendly 
with Congress and leave a way open to 
join the Union at some future time if they 
should think best. They knew that Con- 
gress would lay an impost upon goods im- 
ported into the ratifying States; so these 
canny people recommended their legisla- 
ture to pass laws for collecting an impost 
at their ports and then giving over to Con- 
gress the resulting money. At the end of 
1789, however, they concluded to ratify. 

Rhode Island was even slower than 
North Carolina to accept the new Consti- 
tution, and for almost opposite reasons. 



STATES GITAKD THEIE EIGHTS 141 

She had had no tyrannical governors, but 
had been free and remarkably independ- 
ent from the first. Her custom of having 
her own way was well established, and she 
had no idea of making any change. For 
some time she refused even to call a con- 
vention to consider the question of ratify- 
ing the Constitution. Finally, however, 
in 1790, more than a year after the in- 
auguration of Washington, she voted for 
ratification. 

This new government could demand 
money, make peace and war, make trea- 
ties with other nations, raise an army and 
a navy, build roads, establish a post- 
office system, make laws for commerce. 
Government was no longer, as in Revolu- 
tionary days, obliged to beg for money; it 
could require, and it had power to enforce 
its requirements. Remembering that each 
State had been independent of the others, 
had made its own laws, and had looked out 
for its own interests, it is no wonder that 
there was hesitation in the minds of many 



142 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

as to whether it was well to give up so 
much of their freedom. It is no wonder 
that people questioned what this unknown 
and untried Congress, made up of their 
own representatives as it was, might 
choose to do. It is no wonder that of the 
first eleven States to ratify, six proposed 
Amendments — 105 in all — and one of 
them a bill of rights in addition. Later, 
when North Carolina ratified, she pre- 
sented another bill of rights and called for 
twenty-six Amendments. Both Virginia 
and New York petitioned Congress to call 
another convention to consider the pro- 
posed Amendments and report which of 
them would be for the best good of the 
country. 

Congress had no authority to call a con- 
vention save at the request of the legisla- 
tures of two-thirds of the States, and 
could not propose any Amendments un- 
less two-thirds of both Houses deemed it 
necessary. Five of the States had not 
demanded Amendments; and the mem- 



STATES GUARD THEIR RIGHTS 143 

bers of Congress were by no means agreed 
that any were necessary. " Our Constitu-i 
tion is like a vessel just launched, and ly- 
ing at the wharf," declared one. " She is 
untried, you can hardly discover any one 
of her properties. It is not known how 
she will answer her helm or lay her course ; 
whether she will bear with safety the 
precious freight deposited in her hold. 
But, in this state, will the prudent mer- 
chant attempt alterations? Will he em- 
ploy workmen to tear off the planking and 
take asunder the frame? He certainly 
will not." Another member thought that 
the people whom they represented would 
be out of patience and distrustful of them 
if they did not consider the proposed 
Amendments at once. Still another said 
rather tartly, " It strikes me that the 
great Amendment which the Government 
wants is expedition in the despatch of 
business." It was proposed that a com- 
mittee be appointed to report on the 
matter. "What," cried one, "can we 



i 



144 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

neither see, hear, smell, or feel, unless we 
employ a committee for the purpose? " 
Nevertheless, a committee of eleven was 
appointed, one from each State that had 
ratified, to examine all proposed Amend- 
ments and present a report on their desir- 
ability. 

Before this report could be considered, 
however, and quite aside from the sub- 
stance of the Amendments themselves, 
there was an important question to be de- 
cided, namely, " Should any Amendment 
adopted be made a part of the original 
Constitution, or should it be presented as 
an addition to it? " Mr. Madison thought 
it would produce a much more " neat and 
proper " result if it were interwoven with 
the Constitution. " We might as well en- 
deavor to mix brass, iron, and clay as to 
incorporate an Amendment with the orig- 
inal Articles," retorted a second member. 
A third declared bluntly that it would not 
be honest, that the document produced 
would not be the one that Washington 



STATES GUAKD THEIR EIGHTS 145 

and the others of the convention had 
signed. A fourth member said that he 
agreed with this last speaker, and objected 
to patching it up until it resembled 
Joseph's coat of many colors. But still 
another member said that if the Amend- 
ments were not incorporated with the 
Constitution, this might in years to come 
read like a paper which he had once seen : 
" An act entitled an act to amend a sup- 
plement to an act entitled an act for alter- 
ing part of an act entitled an act for cer- 
tain purposes therein mentioned." 

On one point all were agreed, namely, 
to reduce the Amendments to as small a 
number as possible ; and they set to work. 
The House retained seventeen, and the 
Senate cut down this number to twelve. 
They were then laid before the separate 
States, and in the course of the three years 
following, three-fourths of the States ac- 
cepted ten of them; and these ten were 
added to the Constitution. 

The ten Amendments are interesting 



146 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

reading, because they show so clearly the 
thoughts and feelings of the people. The 
new Government was untried. Congress 
could make laws; the Supreme Court 
could interpret them; and the President 
could call out the army if necessary to see 
that they were obeyed. There was no 
chance for escape. These men realized 
that they were firmly held in the grasp of 
whatever they now voted for. It is no 
wonder that they considered the Amend- 
ments carefully. Slowly and with much 
discussion they voted for one after an- 
other, emphasizing the rights with which 
they would brook no interference, and 
ended with a sturdy declaration to the ef- 
fect that all rights which the Constitution 
did not give to the general Government or 
forbid to the States should belong to the 
States respectively or to the people. 

But just what rights belonged to the 
general Government was not always clear. 
Even the wise framers of the Constitution 
could not foresee every case that might 



STATES GUAKD THEIR RIGHTS 147 

arise. Evidently there were some rights 
of the general Government and also some 
rights of the separate States that were 
not " set down in writing," but that were 
reasonably implied. Just what these were 
could not be determined save as case after 
case arose. 

One of the most important of these 
cases was that of Alexander Chisholm of 
North Carolina, who had a claim against 
the State of Georgia. The Constitution 
did not declare whether or not an indi- 
vidual had a right to sue a State ; and the 
Court took the ground that no State 
should be allowed to do injustice to any 
person. Georgia had sent no one to rep- 
resent her, and therefore the Court de- 
cided in favor of Chisholm, and issued a 
writ of inquiry, that is, instructions to as- 
certain what damages were due him from 
Georgia. 

Then the tempest broke forth. Georgia 
declared that her sovereignty had been in- 
vaded, and passed an act making the exe- 



148 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

cution of such a writ punishable by death. 
The Eleventh Amendment to the Consti- 
tution was proposed in Congress and 
passed, and the Supreme Court gave up 
all claim to jurisdiction in such cases. 



CHAPTER X 

ELECTING THE PRESIDENT 

There is an old story which says that 
two knights once rode up to a trophy 
shield from opposite directions. One 
spoke of it as made of gold ; the other de- 
clared that it was of silver. They quar- 
reled, then they fought. A third knight 
stopped the warfare by showing them that 
the shield was gold on one side and silver 
on the other. 

So with the interpretation of the Con- 
stitution. From the very beginning of 
discussing plans for a union, there had 
existed two ways of looking at the sub- 
ject, and gradually two political parties 
had been formed, one inclined to interpret 
all cases in such a way as to strengthen 
the general Government, the other on 
guard lest the rights of the individual 

States should not be respected. It began 
149 



150 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

to be a matter of interest to every man not 
only to have the chief officers of Govern- 
ment men well prepared for their posi- 
tions, but to have men who were of his 
own way of thinking on this subject. 

At the time of the constitutional con- 
vention there were no political parties, 
and the makers of the Constitution, clear- 
sighted as they were, had not foreseen 
what an effect the formation of such par- 
ties would have upon the Federal elections. 
They had planned that when a President 
was to be elected, each State was to ap- 
point, by whatever method its people 
might think best, its proper number of 
electors. These were expected to be as a 
matter of course some of the most eminent 
men of their State. They were to meet 
together, and after free discussion, were 
to select candidates for the presidency. 

Each delegate was then to vote for two] 
persons. The person winning the great- 
est number of votes, provided this was a 
majority, should become President; the 



ELECTING THE PKESIDENT 151 

one winning the next largest number 
should become Vice-President. In the 
minds of the worthy members of the con- 
vention, there seems not to have been the 
slightest doubt that this would result in 
electing the men best qualified for the two 
offices. 

As long as Washington was a candi- 
date, the elections moved smoothly, for no 
one would vote against him. But in 1796, 
after he had refused a third term, the two 
political parties had come into being. In 
this election, John Adams was chosen 
President, and Thomas Jefferson, Vice- 
President. These two men belonged to 
different parties. Therefore if Adams 
should die in office, then for the rest of his 
term the head of the Government would 
be a man of the opposite party, that is, the 
head of the Government would represent 
not a majority, but a minority of the citi- 
zens. Evidently, there was need of re- 
form, and the Twelfth Amendment was 
passed and ratified. 



152 STOEY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

This remains in force, but, because the 
country has become so large, the way of 
carrying out the Amendment has 
changed; for instance, since, if a political 
party hopes to succeed, its members must 
vote for the same candidate, the present 
custom of nominating him at a great party 
convention has arisen. 

This nomination begins with the " pri- 
maries," that is, meetings of the voters in 
a city ward or a country town or a pre- 
cinct. Delegates chosen at the primaries 
are sent to the county or district conven- 
tion to work for the nomination of some 
particular candidate for the presidency. 
From these conventions or districts, dele- 
gates are now sent to the State conven- 
tion. At the State convention delegates 
are chosen to attend the national conven- 
tion, and presidential electors are nomi- 
nated. The business of the latter is not to 
choose a President by any means, but 
merely to cast a formal vote, when the 
time comes, for whatever man their party 



ELECTING THE PKESIDENT 153 

shall name in the national convention. 
This convention usually meets in June or 
July, and then the candidates are nomi- 
nated. The nominee who is supported by 
the largest number of delegates is declared 
to be the nominee of his party, and the 
electors are to give him their votes. 

All this time the electors have only been 
nominated, not elected; but in November, 
at what is spoken of as the presidential 
election, the electors are formally ap- 
pointed. Their ballots are opened by the 
president of the Senate in the presence of 
Senate and House. This ceremony does 
not take place until February; but as 
every one knows how the electors have 
been instructed to vote, the result of the 
election is known in November. If an 
elector chooses, he has the power to vote 
for an opposing candidate, but this would 
be a grave breach of trust. 

By this method of election, all votes are 
of equal value. The vote of a foreigner 
who has just been naturalized has as much 



154 STOEY OF OUK CONSTITUTION 

weight as that of an ex-president. In- 
deed, once upon a time a war was brought 
on by a single vote. A man in Indiana 
hesitated whether to go to mill or to the 
polls, but at length decided to do his duty 
and vote. His district by a majority of 
one sent its candidate to the legislature, 
and the legislature elected a United States 
Senator, also by a majority of one. This 
Senator became president of the Senate. 
On the question, Shall Texas be annexed? 
there was a tie, and the Senator gave the 
casting vote, a " Yes." The annexation 
took place and was the cause of the Mexi- 
can War. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE WAR AMENDMENTS 

After the Twelfth Amendment was 
declared in force, in 1804, the Constitu- 
tion remained unchanged for more than 
half a century. In that time the thirteen 
States had grown to thirty-four, and the 
4,000,000 inhabitants had become 31,- 
000,000. Civil War was raging between 
North and South. Negro slavery was not 
then forbidden by the Constitution and 
was in operation throughout the Southern 
States. The slaves remaining at home 
cared for their masters' families and 
worked for them, leaving the white men 
of the household free to join the Southern 
armies. To prevent this would be a valu- 
able military measure, of great help to the 
forces of the Government. 

One morning in July, 1862, President 

Lincoln called his Cabinet together. He 
155 



156 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

read to its members a paper which he had 
just prepared, declaring all slaves free in 
those States which were at war with the 
Union. It is no wonder that the Cabinet 
were surprised and almost bewildered. 
" It will cost you your election," said one 
member, but this did not move the Presi- 
dent. One suggestion, however, he did 
follow, and this was to postpone issuing 
the Proclamation until the Union forces 
should have won some decided victory. 

Two months later he felt that the time 
had come. Again he called his Cabinet 
together, and read them the Emancipation 
Proclamation. At the end he said, " I 
know very well that many others might, 
in this matter as in others, do better than 
I can. ... There is no way in which 
I can have any other man put where I am. 
I am here; I must do the best I can, and 
bear the responsibility of taking the course 
which I feel I ought to take." The Proc- 
lamation was then carried to the State De- 
partment, and the great seal of the United 





Abraham Lincoln. 
Statue by Augustus St. Gauden, Chicago. 



THE WAK AMENDMENTS 157 

States was affixed. The paper was signed 
by the President that same day, and on 
the following morning it was published in 
the leading newspapers of the country. 

This Proclamation declared that on 
January 1, 1863, just one hundred days 
later, " all persons held as slaves in the 
States then at war with the United States 
should be then, thenceforward, and for- 
ever free." It was added that the Gov- 
ernment of the United States would 
maintain the freedom of such persons. 

This Proclamation did not free all the 
slaves, but only those of the States at war 
with the Union. Several of what were 
called the Border States allowed slavery, 
but some of these had of their own accord 
set their slaves free. Toward the close of 
the war, the Thirteenth Amendment, 
which freed all slaves in the United States 
qt in any place under its rule, was laid 
before Congress. Late in the afternoon 
came the roll-call and the registering of 
each vote. The members on the floor and 



158 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

the spectators in the galleries listened with 
breathless interest to every name, eager 
and anxious. After the last name had 
been called, the speaker announced that 
the resolve was passed by a two-thirds 
vote. Visitors in the galleries waved hats 
and handkerchiefs, while even the mem- 
bers forgot all rules for behavior in a law- 
making assembly, and joined in the cheers. 
This Amendment was submitted to the 
States, and before the close of the year 
1865, it had become the law of the land. 

One year after the end of the war, Con- 
gress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, 
and in July 1868 this had been ratified by 
a sufficient number of States to be de- 
clared in force. This Amendment gave 
to Negroes the right of citizenship, and 
lessened the number of votes to any State 
denying this right. It forbade, without a 
special Act of Congress, any one to be- 
come a member of Congress or hold any 
office under the United States or under 
any State who, having once taken an oath 



THE WAK AMENDMENTS 159 

to support the Government of the United 
States, had taken part in the war. 

The Constitution had given to each 
House of Congress the right to decide 
who were or were not qualified to become 
its members, and Congress had refused to 
receive any man from the seceding States 
as Senator or Representative who would 
not take what was called the " ironclad 
oath," that is, an oath declaring that he 
had taken no part in secession. As al- 
most every white man in those States had 
taken part in the secession, few of the 
white inhabitants of the State had a legal 
right to vote, while this right was given by 
Congress to their former slaves. This 
caused trouble and interference with the 
Negro vote. To protect the Negroes in 
their right to vote, Congress now passed 
the Fifteenth Amendment. This declared 
that neither the United States nor any 
State Government could refuse the right 
to vote to a citizen " on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude." 



CHAPTER XII 

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AMENDMENTS 

During the years between 1909 and 
1919, four Amendments were passed, as 
different in character as any four Amend- 
ments could possibly be. They were con- 
cerning the right of Government to im- 
pose an income tax; the election of Sena- 
tors; prohibition; and woman suffrage. 

The income tax was brought about be- 
cause the expenses of the Government had 
increased and more money was needed to 
pay the bills. In 1894 Government had 
imposed a tax of two per cent, on the ex- 
cess of all incomes above $4,000. 
Whether this was according to the Con- 
stitution or not was a question, and the 
subject was brought before the Supreme 
Court. 

The Constitution declared that all di- 
rect taxes must be apportioned among the 
160 



AMENDMENTS 161 

States according to the number of their 
citizens respectively. This tax did not 
deal with States, but with individual citi- 
zens, and it might easily happen that a 
State with a few wealthy citizens would 
pay larger taxes than a State with many 
but poorer citizens. The Court decided 
that this was contrary to the Constitu- 
tion. 

The matter of an income tax affected 
so large a portion of the citizens that it 
was discussed by everybody. " It is un- 
fair," some declared, " because it throws a 
heavy burden upon a small class." " Bur- 
dens should be borne by those who are best 
able," was retorted. " To exempt a cer- 
tain amount of income for all is not fair," 
said some, " for a dollar bill will buy more 
food and pay house rent longer in some 
parts of the country than in others." 
" Then, too, the Government will receive 
the largest returns from places where the 
living expenses are heaviest." " Is it fair 
to tax thrift and economy? " queried some. 



162 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

" Thrift and economy without the protec- 
tion of a good Government would amount 
to little," said others. 

So the people talked, some with good 
arguments, and some with poor; but at 
length, in July, 1909, Congress passed the 
Sixteenth Amendment, giving Govern- 
ment the right to impose such a tax. It 
went into power in 1913, and a law for an 
income tax was promptly passed. 

According to the Constitution, United 
States Senators were to be elected by the 
legislatures of their respective States, but 
many persons had come to believe that it 
would be better for them to be elected di- 
rectly by the people. 

These persons argued as follows: It is 
much easier to make the power of money 
and influence felt among the few members 
of a legislature than among the whole 
number of citizens of a State. The party 
in power elects the legislature, and there- 
fore a man belonging to the opposing 



AMENDMENTS 163 

party loses his vote for Senators. In a 
State where the two parties are nearly 
equally divided, a party only slightly in 
the majority elects the Senators; that is, 
the deciding power is in the hands of a 
very few persons, whose vote might per- 
haps be easily swung to the opposing side. 
There is sometimes a deadlock in a legis- 
lature, and this would be impossible with 
a direct vote. 

Those who were satisfied with their 
present manner of electing replied: If the 
people of a State as a whole can elect 
honorable Senators, there is no reason why 
they cannot elect honorable legislators. 
It is not good to weaken the legislature by 
taking responsibility from it. As to any 
possible deadlocks, these could easily be 
prevented if the law would permit elec- 
tions by plurality rather than by majority. 
Another point is that some of the men 
who would best serve the country as Sena- 
tors would refuse to seek to win the posi- 
tion by entering a political campaign. 



164 STORY OF OUE COSTSTIT JTION 

So they argued, but when the question 
came before Congress for a vote, an 
Amendment in favor of the newly pro- 
posed method was passed, and in 1913 it 
became the law of the land. 

In 1914 the World War broke out, and 
soon there was great need of conservation 
of food. Cereals, molasses, etc., were 
valuable foods, and in 1917 an Act of 
Congress forbade their being used to 
manufacture liquor. Some of the States 
were already " dry," and a few months 
later, another Act forbade carrying liquor 
into any dry State. 

Those who for many years had been 
working for prohibition now felt so en- 
couraged that many believed no more 
spirits would ever be manufactured in the 
United States for drinking purposes. 
Near the end of 1917, the Eighteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution was 
passed in Congress, forbidding the manu- 
facture, sale, or transportation of intoxi- 



AMENDMENTS 165 

eating liquor in any territory subject to 
the rule of the United States, 

This Act was now given to the States 
for ratification. When January 29, 1919, 
had come, thirty-six States had ratified 
the Amendment. Ohio was the thirty- 
sixth, and at the November elections the 
people of that State repudiated the vote 
of their legislature. Luckily for the pro- 
hibition Amendment, several other States 
had ratified it meanwhile, and one year 
later it became a part of the law of the 
land. Early in that same year Rhode 
Island, New Jersey, and a number of 
brewers and distillers united in suits to 
test the validity of the Amendment; but 
it was upheld by the Supreme Court as 
being according to the Constitution. 

Up to 1920 Government had been in 
great degree in the hands of men ; but long 
before that date there was much question- 
ing as to why women should not have an 
equal share in making the laws by which 



166 STOKY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

they were governed. As early as 1848 a 
convention met to discuss votes for 
women, and from that time the subject 
increased in importance. One association 
was formed to work for suffrage through 
State Amendments, and another to try to 
secure it through a national Amendment 
to the Constitution. 

For a long time it seemed almost hope- 
less to think of securing a national 
Amendment, but State Amendments 
were of course quite a different matter, 
and the number of "Woman-Suffrage 
States " increased from the four of 1909 
to the eleven of 1917. Numerous other 
States had also granted partial suffrage to 
women, and in May, 1919, the House of 
Representatives passed an Act in favor of 
full suffrage. Two weeks later this Act, 
Uhe Nineteenth Amendment, was also 
passed by the Senate. 

The Amendment was put into the 
hands of the States for ratification. Then 
came bitter contests. Some States 



AMENDMENTS 167 

promptly and positively refused to ratify. 
Some called in vain special sessions of 
their legislatures to vote on the Amend- 
ment. Five refused to vote either for or 
against it. The year 1920 opened, the 
year of a presidential election. There was 
need of haste if the women's vote was to 
be counted, and in the early months of the 
year those who favored the Amendment 
worked zealously. They were successful. 
A sufficient number of States voted for 
ratification, and some weeks before the 
election, the Nineteenth Amendment was 
proclaimed as law throughout the United 
States. 

So stands the Constitution, a century 
and a half since the little group of patriots 
came together in Independence Hall to 
think and plan for the America of to-day. 
There have been additions and alterations, 
for 

" New occasions teach new duties" 
but we could ask nothing better than that 



168 STOEY OF OUH CONSTITUTION 

these changes shall have been in accord 
with the marvellous paper sent forth to 
the expectant people who with courage 
and determination had fought their way 
to Statehood and Union. 



THE CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA 



170 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section i. — All legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Sect. 2. — The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of members chosen every second year by the people of the 
several States, and the electors in each State shall have the 
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have at- 
tained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be deter- 
mined by adding to the whole number of free persons, includ- 
ing those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual 
enumeration shall be made within three years after the first 
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every 
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by 
law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 171 

one for every thirty thousand; but each State shall have at 
least one representative ; and, until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
three, Massachusetts, eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, one, Connecticut, five, New York, six, New Jer- 
sey, four, Pennsylvania, eight, Delaware, one, Maryland, six, 
Virginia, ten, North Carolina, five, South Carolina, five, and 
Georgia, three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of 
election to fill such vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker 
and other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ment. 

Sect. 3. — The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legis- 
lature thereof, for six years ; and each senator shall have one 
vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of 
the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, 
into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the 
second class, at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third 
may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen, by 
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of 
any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
ments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhab- 
itant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be president of 
the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a pres- 



172 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ident pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when 
he shall exercise the office as President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affir- 
mation. When the President of the United States is tried, the 
chief justice shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and en- 
joy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States ; 
but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and sub- 
ject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according 
to law. 

Sect. 4. — The times, places, and manner of holding elec- 
tions for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in 
each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may, 
at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to 
the places of choosing senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year ; and 
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall by law appoint a different day. 

Sect. 5. — Each house shall be the judge of the elections, re- 
turns, and qualifications of its own members ; and a majority 
of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller 
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized 
to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner 
and under such penalties as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, pun- 
ish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concur- 
rence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in 
their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire 
of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. . 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 178 

nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall 
be sitting. 

Sect. 6. — The senators and representatives shall receive a 
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and 
paid out of the treasury of the United States They shall, in 
all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the 
same ; and, for any speech or debate in either house, they shall 
not be questioned in any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the author- 
ity of the United States which shall have been created, or the 
emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such 
time ; and no person holding any office under the United States 
shall be a member of either house during his continuance in 
office. 

Sect. 7. — All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or 
concur with amendments, as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the President of the United States ; if he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objec- 
tions, to that house in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed 
to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of 
that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together 
with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall like- 
wise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two-thirds of that 
house, it shall become a law. But, in all such cases, the votes 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays ; and the 
names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be 
entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill 
shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 



174 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case 
it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 
(except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the 
President of the United States ; and, before the same shall take 
effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed 
in the case of a bill. 

Sect. 8. — The Congress shall have power : — 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay 
the debts, and provide for the common defence and general 
welfare, of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and ex- 
cises shall be uniform throughout the United States : 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States : 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes : 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United 
States : 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures : 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States : 

To establish post-offices and post-roads : 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by secur- 
ing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive 
right to their respective writings and discoveries : 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court : 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and offences against the law of nations : 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water : 

To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years : 

To provide and maintain a navy : 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 175 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land 
and naval forces : 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the mili- 
tia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in 
the service of the United States, reserving to the States, respec- 
tively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of 
training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress : 

To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by ces- 
sion of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, be- 
come the seat of government of the United States, and to 
exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for 
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other 
needful buildings : — And, 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
Carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other 
powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Sect. 9. — The migration or importation of such persons, as 
any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight ; but a tax, or duty, may be imposed on 
such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the 
public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in 
proportion to the census, or enumeration, hereinbefore directed 
to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of 



176 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be 
obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in conse- 
quence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement 
and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money 
shall be published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them 
shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from 
any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sect. io. — No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or 
confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin 
money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and 
silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of 
attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation 
of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the 
net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on im- 
ports or exports shall be for the use of the treasury of the 
United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision 
and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the con- 
sent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships 
of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact 
with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. 

ARTICLE n. 

Section i. — The executive power shall be vested in a Presi- 
dent of the United States of America. He shall hold his office 
during the term of four years, and together with the Vice- 
President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : — 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whol* 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 177 

number of senators and representatives to which the State may 
be entitled in the Congress ; but no senator or representative, 
or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall 
make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of 
votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, open all the certificates ; and the votes shall then be 
counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall 
be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if there be more than one 
who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, 
then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by 
ballot, one of them for President; and if no person have a 
majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said house 
shall, in like manner, choose the President. But, in choosing 
the President, the votes shall be taken by States; the repre- 
sentation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds 
of the States ; and a majority of all the States shall be necessary 
to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the 
person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall 
be the Vice-President. But, if there should remain two or 
more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them, 
by ballot, the Vice-President. 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the elec- 
tors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which 
day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any 
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to 



178 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 

within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and 
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice- 
President ; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case 
of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President 
and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as Presi- 
dent ; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability 
be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the period for which he shall have been elected ; and he 
shall not receive within that period any other emolument from 
the United States or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take 
the following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best 
of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
the United States." 

Sect. 2. — The President shall be commander-in-chief of the 
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the 
several States, when called into the actual service of the United 
States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal 
officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have 
power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate and, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, 
other public ministers, and consuls, judges of the Supreme 
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appoint- 
ments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be 
established by law : but the Congress may, by law, vest the ap- 



(CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 179 

pointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, In the 
President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of depart- 
ments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting com- 
missions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sect. 3. — He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress 
information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that 
the laws be faithfully executed; and shall commission all the 
officers of the United States. 

Sect. 4. — The President, Vice-President, and all civil offi- 
cers of the United States, shall be removed from office on im- 
peachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high 
crimes and misdemeanors. 

article in. 

Section i. — The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The 
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their 
offices during good behavior ; and shall, at stated times, receive 
for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Sect. 2. — The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in 
law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the 
United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made under 
their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime 
jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States shall 
be a party ; to controversies between two or more States, be- 



180 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

tween a State and citizens of another State, between citizens of 
different States, between citizens of the same State claiming 
lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or 
the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme 
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases 
before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate juris- 
diction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under 
such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall 
be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the 
said crimes shall have been committed ; but, when not com- 
mitted within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places 
as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Sect. 3. — Treason against the United States shall consist 
only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their ene- 
mies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be con- 
victed of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to 
the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment 
of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of 
blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 

article rv. 

Section i. — Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of 
every other State. And the Congress may by general laws 
prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceed- 
ings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sect. 2. — The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any. State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another 
State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State 
from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having jurisdiction of the crime. 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 181 

No person held to service or labor in one State under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of 
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service 
or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to 
whom such service or labor may be due. 

Sect. 3. — New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within 
the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed 
by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, with- 
out the consent of the legislature of the States concerned, as 
well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of 
the United States, or of any particular State. 

Sect. 4. — The United States shall guarantee to every State 
in this Union a republican form of government, and shall pro- 
tect each of them against invasion ; and on application of the 
legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be 
convened) , against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, 
which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, 
as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of 
three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three- 
fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may 
be proposed by the Congress; Provided, that no amendment, 
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hun- 
dred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no 
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage 
in the Senate. 



182 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this Constitution, as under the Confedera- 
tion. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this 
Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the convention of nine States shall be suf- 
ficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, 
the seventeenth day of September > in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the 
United States of America the twelfth. 

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

George Washington, President, 

and deputy from Virginia, 

New Hampshire. — John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. 
Massachusetts. — Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 
Connecticut. — William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. 
New York. — Alexander Hamilton. 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 183 

New Jersey. — William Livingston, David Brearly, William 
Patterson, Jonathan Dayton 

Pennsylvania. — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert 
Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris 

Delaware. — George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John 
Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. — James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia. — John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina, —William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, 
Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina. — John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth 
Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. — William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest : William Jackson, Secretary. 



184 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech or of the press ; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a 
redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall 
not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner ; nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon 
probable cause, supported by oath and affirmation, and particu- 
larly describing the place to be searched, and the person or 
things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 185 

militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; 
nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled, in any 
criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived 
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use without just compensa- 
tion. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the orime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascertained by law ; and to 
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be 
confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre- 
served ; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined 
in any court of the United States than according to the rules of 
the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

article x. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti- 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively, or to the people. 



186 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another State, 
or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them- 
selves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for 
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President ; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- 
President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the 
government of the United States, directed to the president of 
the Senate ; the president of the Senate shall, in the presence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the cer- 
tificates, and the votes shall then be counted : the person having 
the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three on 
the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representa- 
tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But, 
in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, 
the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- 
thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be 
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall 
devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next follow- 
ing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the 
case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 187 

President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no 
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on 
the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President : a quorum 
for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number 
of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be 
necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the 
United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Section i . — Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, ex- 
cept as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or 
any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sect. 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce this Article 
by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Section i. — All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No 
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sect. 2. — Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States, according to their respective numbers, counting 
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians 
not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for 
choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, 
being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participatnion in 



188 STORY OF OUR CONSTITUTION 

rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein 
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 
twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Sect. 3. — No person shall be a senator, or representative 
in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold 
any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under 
any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of 
any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall 
have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof : but Congress may, 
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Sect. 4. — The validity of the public debt of the United 
States authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment 
of pensions, and bounties for services in suppressing insurrec- 
tion or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the 
United States, nor any State, shall assume or pay any debt or 
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of 
any slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be 
held illegal and void. 

Sect. 5. — The Congress shall have power to enforce by 
appropriate legislation the provisions of this Article. 

ARTICLE xv. 

Section i. — The right of citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or 
by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude. 

Sect. 2. — The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
Article by appropriate legislation. 



CONSTITUTION OF U.S.A. 189 

ARTICLE XVI. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment 
among the several States, and without regard to any census or 
enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII. 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six 
years ; and each senator shall have one vote. The electors in 
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State 
in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies : provided, that the legis- 
lature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make 
temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by 
election as the legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the 
election or term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid 
as part of the Constitution. 

ARTICLE XVIII. 

Section i . — After one year from the ratification of this Arti- 
cle the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating 
liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation 
thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. 

Sect. 2. — The Congress and several States shall have con- 
current power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation. 

Sect. 3. — This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall 
have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the 
legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitu- 
tion, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof 
to the States by the Congress. 

ARTICLE XIX. 

The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
account of sex. 

Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropri- 
ate legislation. 



INDEX 



Adams, John, chosen Vice- 
President, 134 ; chosen 
President, 151. 

Adams, Samuel, won for 
the Constitution, 107-109. 

Albany, contest between 
Federals and Antis at, 
125-126. 

Alexandria, 118. 

Alleghany Mountains, vis- 
ited by Washington, 30. 

Amendments to Constitu- 
tion, ten added, 142-146; 
Eleventh, 148; Twelfth, 
150-151; Thirteenth, 157- 
158; Fourteenth, 158-159; 
Fifteenth, 159; Sixteenth, 
160-162; Seventeenth, 162- 
164; Eighteenth, 164-165; 
Nineteenth, 165-166 ; 
Twentieth, 165-^67. 

America, Franklin returns 
to, 50. 

Annapolis, 29 ; Congress 
meets at, 37. 

Anti-Federalist's (Antis), 
oppose the Constitution, 
93-115; contests of with 
the Federalists in Albany, 
125-126. 

Articles of Confederation, a 
mere " league of friend- 
ship," 24; weakness of 
the, 26-27; discussion 
whether to amend or form 



a new Constitution, 62- 
65, 66, 74; broken by the 
States, 79. 
Atlantic Ocean, 100. 

Baldwin, Abraham, saves 
the first great compromise, 
81-82. 

Baltimore, 132. 

Barter, resulting from 
scarcity of coin, 19. 

Bay State, 33. See Massa- 
chusetts. 

Boston, 103; mechanics of, 
persuade Samuel Adams, 
108-109. 

Brazil, coins of, used in 
America, 20. 

Bush Hill, home of Hamil- 
ton, 123. 

Canada, 49. 

Carpenters Hall, meeting 
place of the First Conti- 
nental Congress, 135. 

Charleston, 117. 

Chisholm, Alexander, vs. 
Georgia, 147-148. 

Christ Church, bellsof, cele- 
brate Pennsylvania's rati- 
fication of the Constitu- 
tion, 98. 

Cincinnati, the Society of 
the, 13, 14; Washington 
dines with the, 82, 121. 



191 



192 



INDEX 



Civil War, 155. 

Coin, scarcity and confusion 
of the, 10-22. 

Columbia, 107. 

Commerce, disagreement of 
the States concerning, 16- 
18; with Europe, 18-19; 
Virginia plans a commer- 
cial meeting of States to 
plan laws for trade, 30; 
Southern States fear New 
England's control of 
ocean freight, 87; to be 
controlled by Congress, 
88 ; importance of to Mas- 
sachusetts, 105. 

Compromises of the Consti- 
tution, the three great, 78- 
84, 84-87, 87-S8. 

Concord, 112. 

Confederation, plans to cut 
loose from the, 26. 

Congress, demand of for a 
standing army, 14-15 ; 
clips the coin, 21 ; needs 
money, 23; the weakness 
of, 24, 27-31, 79; makes 
treaties with the Indians 
of the Northwest Terri- 
tory, 26, 32; cannot pay 
Massachusetts, 33 ; calls 
Constitutional Convention 
at'Philadelphia, 35 ; meets 
at Annapolis, 37; increas- 
ing the power of, 64; 
votes in favor of a 
national government, 65; 
election of members of, 
67-^69; election of Lower 
House to be by the people, 
69; compromise in the 
election to, 80; power of 
the Southern States in, 
86: to control commerce, 



88; looks for a home, 132; 
meets in New York City, 
133-134 ; limitations of the 
power of, 142; all rights 
not given to, to belong to 
the people, 146-148. 

Connecticut, the struggle of 
with New York, 15-17; 
attack upon the courts of, 
34-35, 77, Si; ratifies the 
Constitution, 101-103. 

Constitution, 60, 62; to be 
interpreted by the judici- 
ary, 89-90 ; signing of the, 
90; presented to the 
Pennsylvania Legislature, 
92-93; opposed by the 
Antis, 93-113, passim; 
ratified by Delaware, 96; 
by Pennsylvania, 97; by 
New Jersey, 98; by 
Georgia, 100-101 ; by 
Connecticut, 101-103; by 
Massachusetts, 103-1 10 ; 
by Maryland, 113-114; by 
South Carolina, 114-117; 
celebrated in Providence, 
125; and in Albany, 125, 
126; ratified by New 
Hampshire, 111-112, 117- 
118, 120; by Virginia, 118- 
120; by New York, 126- 
128; interpreted by the 
Federalist, 131, 139; two 
views of the, 149; un- 
changed for ^ half a 
century, 155; gives each 
House of Congress the 
right to decide upon its 
membership, 159. 

Constitutional Convention, 
planned, 31 ; delegates to 
the, 51 ; rules of order of 
the, 59-60; votes that a 



INDEX 



193 



national government 
ought to be established, 
65 ; votes for a Congress 
of two houses, 66; votes 
for the election of the 
Lower House by the 
people, 69; discusses the 
equality of the States, 73- 
75; votes for a single 
executive, 70-72; freedom 
of the delegates to the, 
72; senators to represent 
the States, and rep- 
resentatives the people, 
80; the three great com- 
promises of the, 78-88. 
Continental Congress, 43 ; 
Madison a delegate to the, 

54- 
Creek Indians, Georgia 
makes a treaty with the, 
79- 

Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, 22, 43, 51 ; adopted 
and signed in Indepen- 
dence Hall, 57, 140. 

Delaware, attends the com- 
mercial meeting, 30; de- 
mands as many votes as 
the larger States, 59, 78; 
the wrath of, 80; ratifies 
the Constitution, 96, 97, 

99- 
Delaware, river, 124, 135. 

Edinburgh, the University 
of, gives honorary degree 
to Franklin, 48. 

Elizabeth Point, embarka- 
tion of Washington at, 
136. 

Emancipation Proclamation, 
156-157. 



England, treaty with, 14; 
difficulties in trade with, 
18-19; coins of used in 
America, 20 ; watches 
America, 25 ; Franklin in, 

^8,53- 

Europe, watches America, 
26, 38, 48, 87. 

Executive, manner of elec- 
tion of the, 89. 

"Far West/' in need of 
forts, 23. 

"Father of the Constitu- 
tion," 103. See Madison. 

"Father of the Revolution." 
See Samuel Adams. 

Federal Hall, Washington 
inaugurated in, 137-138. 

"Federal Procession," the, 
123. 

Federal Street, no. 

Federalist, the, 129-131. 

Federalists, defend the Con- 
stitution, 94-113, passim; 
celebrate the new Consti- 
tution in Providence, 125 ; 
in Albany, 125-126, 127. 

Florida, 131. 

Fourth of July, Washing- 
ton celebrates the, 82. 

France, ^ coins of used in 
America, 20, 21; aids 
America with men and 
money, 23; Franklin at 
the court of, 48-49. 

Franklin, Benjamin, as 
patriot and scientist, 45- 
51 ; famous in Europe, 47- 
48 ; at the court of France, 
48; prefers a congress of 
one house, 66, 70; dis- 
approves of a salaried 
President, 72 ; the tact of, 



194 



INDEX 



in the Constitutional Con- 
vention, 74-75 ; presents 
the Constitution to the 
Pennsylvania Legislature, 
9 2 ~93'> scorned by the 
Antis, 95-96, 122, 123. 

Gadsden, Christopher, 117. 

George III, 12, 50. 

Georgia, made treaty with 

the Creek Indians, 79; the 

vote of, 81-82, 87, 88; 

ratines the Constitution, 

ioo-ioi, 119; vs. Chis- 

holm, 147-148.^ 
Germany, the coins of used 

in America, 20. 
Gladstone, William Ewart, 

praises the Constitution, 

92. 
Gorham, Judge Nathaniel, 

76. 
Government, the power of 

under the Constitution, 

141. 
"Grand Federal Edifice," 

124. 
Gray's Ferry, Washington 

at, 42. 
Great Britain, Hamilton 

favors resistance to, 128. 
Great Lakes, 126. 
Green ^ Dragon Tavern, 

meeting place of the 

mechanics of Boston, 108. 
Gulf Stream, studied by 

Franklin, 46. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 
votes for the Constitution, 
65 ; Independence Day 
celebrated at the home of, 
123-124; ratification of 
the Constitution by New 



York due to, 128; early 
life of, 128; work of, in 
favor of the Constitution, 
129-131. 

Hancock, John, suggests 
amendments to the Con- 
stitution, no. 

Henry, Patrick, 91 ; opposes 
ratification, 119. 

Hessians, 135. 

Holland, a creditor of 
America, 23. 

Houston, William, opposes 
equal senatorial repre- 
sentation of all States, 81. 

Income Tax, declared un- 
constitutional, 160-161 ; 
amendment permitting, 
161-162. 

Independence Day, celebra- 
tion of in Philadelphia, 
120-124. 

Independence Hall, historic 
events in, 57, 167. 

Indiana, 154. 

Indians, treaty with the, 26. 

Intoxicating liquor, manu- 
facture, sale, or trans- 
portation in United States 
territory forbidden, 164- 
165. 

Jay, John, assists in the 

Federalist, 130. 
Jefferson, Thomas, fears of 

for the country, 139; 

chosen President, 151. 
"Joes," of Portugal and 

Brazil, 20. 
Jones, Paul, 122. 
Judiciary, special work of 

the, 89. 

Kentucky, desires to trade 



INDEX 



195 



with New Orleans, 17- 
18, 118. 
Knox, General Henry, no. 

Lafayette, Mademoisei.ee, 
writes to Washington, 38, 

Lancaster, 132. 

Langdon, John, counts the 
votes for the first Presi- 
dent, 134. 

Lawsuits, as luxuries, 12. 

Lincoln, President Abra- 
ham, reads the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation to his 
cabinet, 155-156. 

Long Lane, no. 

Louis, King, 48, 49. 

McKean, Judge Thomas, 
burned in effigy by the 
Antis, 99; in the Phila- 
delphia celebration of In- 
dependence Day, 120. 

Madison, James, 38; leader 
of the Virginia delegates 
at the Convention, 52; 
early life of, 53; delegate 
to the Continental Con- 
gress, 54; at the Consti- 
tutional Convention, 55- 
56; takes full notes at the 
. Convention, 61-62 ; speaks 
on election to the Lower 
House by the people, 68- 
69; shows the disobedi- 
ence of States to the 
Articles of Confederation, 
79, 103, 114; stands for 
ratification, 119, 127; as- 
sists in the Federalist, 
130; favors interweaving 
amendments with the 
Constitution, 144. 



Maine, a part of Massachu- 
setts, 104. 

Marshall, Chief Justice 
John, stands for ratifica- 
tion, 119. 

Maryland, does not accept 
invitation to discuss com- 
mercial laws, 30, 31 ; rati- 
fies the Constitution, 113- 
114. 

Massachusetts, 19 ; not pres- 
ent at the commercial 
discussion, 30-31 ; won by 
Shays' s Rebellion to a 
strong central govern- 
ment, 32-34, 86; ratifies 
the Constitution, 103-110; 
desires a bill of rights, 
109, no, in, 127. 

Mexican War, brought on 
by one vote, 154. 

Mississippi, river, Spanish 
coins from the, 20, 25, 
100, 118. 

Monongahela, river, visited 
by Washington, 30. 

Morris, Robert, entertains 
Washington, 42; as 
" financial backer " of the 
Revolution, 42-45. 

Mount Vernon, 37, 38; 
Washington leaves for the 
Convention, 41. 



Negroes, given the right of 
citizenship, 158. 

Nevis, birthplace of Hamil- 
ton, 128. 

New Bedford, 106. 

New England, desires ^ a 
commercial treaty with 
Spain, 17-18, 29; desires 
Congress to regulate com- 



196 



INDEX 



merce, 87; watched by 
Federals and Antis, 101. 
New Hampshire, not repre- 
sented at the commercial 
meeting, 31; the treasury 
of empty, 38, 82, 103; 
hesitation and final ratifi- 
cation of the Constitution 
by, 111-112, 117-118, 120, 

131, 134. 

New Jersey, the struggle of 
with New York, 15-17; 
demands equal representa- 
tion for all States, 74; 
presents a " purely Fed- 
eral " plan of union, 76- 
79; refuses to obey 
Congress, 79; assured an 
equal vote in the Senate, 
84; ratifies the Constitu- 
tion, 98; commerce of 
with New York, 126 ; tests 
the validity of the Nine- 
teenth Amendment, 165. 

New Orleans, Kentucky and 
Tennessee desire to trade 
with, 17, 18. 

New York, city, prepares 
for Congress, 133. 

New York, State, jealous of 
New Jersey and Connecti- 
cut^ 15, 32, 44; works 
again against the Con- 
stitution, 65-66, 77, 103, 
119; ratifies the Constitu- 
tion, 126-128; objects to 
free trade^ with New Jer- 
sey, 126; influence of the 
Federalists in, 130, 131 ; 
petitions for a second 
Constitutional Convention, 
142. 

North Carolina, not repre- 
sented at the commercial 



meeting, 31, 103, 127; 

ratifies the Constitution, 

139-140, 142, 147. 
Northwest Territory, holds 

the Union together, 25-26. 
Nova Scotia, 49. 

Ohio, 40; repudiates her 
prohibition vote, 165. 

Ohio, river, plan to connect 
with the Potomac, 29. 

Oxford, University of, gives 
honorary degree to Frank- 
lin, 48. 

Paris, Franklin in, 49. 

Paulus Hook, 37. 

Pennsylvania, represented at 
the commercial meeting, 
30; University of, founded 
by Franklin, 46; makes 
Franklin President of the 
State, 50, 52; vote against 
a Congress of two 
houses, ,56; votes for rep- 
resentation according to 
population, 74; legislature 
of, receives the Constitu- 
tion, 92-93; ratifies the 
Constitution, 97 ; threat- 
ened rebellion in, 99, 103; 
desires a bill of rights, 
109, 118, 119. 

Pennsylvania Assembly, the 
speaker of, meets Wash- 
ington, 42. 

Philadelphia, Constitutional 
Convention at, called by 
Congress, 35, 36, 37, 41, 
43, 45, 52, 56; celebrates 
Independence Day, 120- 
124, 132; Washington 
greeted at, 135. 

Philadelphia Library, 
founded by Franklin, 46. 



INDEX 



197 



Philadelphia L,ight-Horse, 
escorts Washington into 
Philadelphia, 42. 

Pinckney, Cotesworth, de- 
fends the Constitution, 
II5-II7. 

" Poor Richard's Almanac," 
46. 

Population, the increase of, 

155. 

Portugal, the coins of, used 
in America, 20. 

Potomac, river, to be con- 
nected with the Ohio, 29. 

President, method of elect- 
ing the, 150-154- 

Princeton, 153. 

Prohibition, amendment in 
favor of, 164-166. 

Providence, 125. 

" Purely Federal " plan, 77- 
79- 

Randolph, Governor Ed- 
mund, speaks in favor of 
a strong government, 62- 
63; stands for ratification 
of the Constitution, 119. 

Representation of States in 
Congress, 66-67. 

Republics, three planned, 32. 

Revere, Paul, leads me- 
chanics to call upon 
Adams, 108-109. 

Revolutionary War, feelings 
of the Americans after 
the, 12-13; paper money 
during the, 22; aid of 
France during the, 23, 43, 
47; Hamilton during the, 
129. 

Rhode Island, not repre- 
sented at the commercial 
discussion, 31; refused to 



send delegates to the Con- 
stitutional Convention, 36 ; 
citizens of, regret not be- 
ing represented at the 
Convention, 60-61, 82, 
103; delays to ratify, 
131-132; ratifies the Con- 
stitution, 140-141 ; tests 
the validity of the Nine- 
teenth Amendment, 165. 
Royal Society, Franklin 
made a member of the, 

48-. 
Russia, the Empress of, 
writes to Washington, 38. 

Sandy Hook, lighthouse at, 
16-17. 

Savannah, 81. 

Second Continental Con- 
gress, 57. 

Senators, change in method 
of electing, 162-164. 

Shays's Rebellion, 33, 40, 68, 
104, 105. 

Shenandoah Valley, visited 
by Washington, 30. 

Slaves, to be counted as 
persons or as property, 
84-87. 

Slave trade, 87-88. 

Slavery abolished, 155-158. 

South Carolina, 86, 87; 
fears interference of Con- 
gress with slavery, 114- 
115; ratifies the Constitu- 
tion, 114-117, 119. 

Spain, shuts American ves- 
sels from the lower Mis- 
sissippi, 17; coins of used 
in America, 20; a creditor 
of America, 23; disputes 
with, 32; holds land south 
of Georgia, 100, 1 18. 



198 



INDEX 



Spanish Indies, coins of 
used in America, 20. 

Springfield, attack upon the 
arsenal of, 33. 

State House, Antis dragged 
to the, 94. See Indepen- 
dence Hall. 

States, jealousy among the, 
15; disagree in regard to 
exports, 18; issue paper 
money and notes, 22, 24; 
refuse to obey Congress, 
24; interest of, in the 
Northwest Territory, 26; 
asked to send delegates to 
a Constitutional Conven- 
tion, 31 ; required by new 
Constitution to yield to 
Congress, 64; representa- 
tion in Congress, 66-67; 
discussion on the equality 
of the, 73-75; how to 
tax the, 85-87; free trade 
among the, 89; invited to 
discuss proposed amend- 
ments to the Constitution, 
128; influenced Jby the 
Federalist, 130 ; increase 
in the number of the, 130. 

Sticks, the fable of the, 
11-12. 

Suffrage for women, passed, 
165-167. 

Supreme Court, authority 
of the, 90, 148; declares 
income tax unconstitu- 
tional, 160-161 ; upholds 
the Nineteenth Amend- 
ment, 165. 

Susquehanna, river, 97. 

Taxation, how slaves 

should be counted, 85-87. 

Tennessee, and the trade 



with New Orleans, 17-18, 
118; wishes commercial 
treaty with Spain, 118. 

Texas, 154. 

Thirteenth Amendment, 
frees all slaves in United 
States territory, 157-I58. 

Thomson, Charles, an- 
nounces to Washington 
his election as President, 

134-135. 

Tories, the confiscated prop- 
erty of the, 14; Franklin's 
suggestion for paying the, 
50. 

Travel in America, 29, 36. 

Treaty, a commercial with 
Spain desired by New 
England, 17 ; by Kentucky 
and Tennessee, 118; with 
the Indians of the North- 
west Territory, 26; Con- 
gress powerless to make, 
27 ; with England as made 
by Franklin, 40-50; be- 
tween Georgia and the 
Creek Indians, 79. 

Trenton, 98, 132; Washing- 
ton greeted at, 135-136. 

Twelfth Amendment, 
passed, 151 ; present way 
of carrying out, 152-154* 
155. 

"Under the Roof/' 120. 

Union, States threaten to 
leave the, 18; cannot pay 
its debts, 23; the fall of 
the, expected, 25 ; held to- 
gether by the Northwest 
Territory, 25-26, 64, 88, 
101, 127, 140. 

United States, early coinage 
of the, 22; issued paper 



INDEX 



199 



money, 22; Morris finan- 
■ cial agent of the, 43; 
treaty of the with En- 
gland, 49-50, 731 power 
of the people of the, 95, 
139, 156. 

Virginia, invites the other 
States to a commercial 
meeting, 30; names Wash- 
ington as delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention, 
33, 36, 40, 52, 55; avoids 
opposition to the smaller 
States, 60 ; delegates from 
the, plan a new constitu- 
tion, 62-63; ratifies the 
Constitution, 118 - 120, 
127, 130, 131; petitions 
for another Constitutional 
Convention, 142. 

Virginia plan, the, 75-76, 
103. 

Vote, a single brings on the 
Mexican War, 154. 

Washington, president of 
the Cincinnati, 14; speech 
about paper money, 22; 
plans to bring the States 
together, 28-30; named as 
first delegate to the Con- 
stitutional Convention, 33 ; 
hesitates to accept ap- 



pointment, 37; difficulties 
of after the Revolution, 
38-40; declines a national 
gift, 40; prepares for the 
Convention, 41 ; journey 
to Philadelphia, 41-42, 
43; enabled by Morris to 
end the Revolution, 45; 
calls on Franklin, 45, 50, 
51, 52; made president of 
the Constitutional Con- 
vention, 91; scorned by 
the Antis, 95-96; interest 
of in the ratification of 
the Constitution, 114, 119; 
Hamilton on the staff of, 
130; chosen first Presi- 
dent, 134 ; receives the an- 
nouncement of his elec- 
tion, 135; journey of to 
New York, 135-136; in- 
auguration of, 136-138, 
139, 141, 144, 151. 

Webster, Daniel, 51. 

West Indies, the French 
fleet at the, 44. 

" Woman Suffrage Amend- 
ment " passed, 165-167. 

World War, 164. 

Wilson, James, defends the 
Constitution, 9 4-95 ; 
burned in effigy by the 
Antis, 99; at Bush Hill, 
124. 



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